APM Project Fundamentals

Qualification Study Guide

APM Project
Fundamentals
Qualification Study
Guide

Association for Project Management

Association for Project Management
Ibis House, Regent Park
Summerleys Road, Princes Risborough
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© Association for Project Management 2020

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eISBN: 978–1–913305–03–1

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Contents

List of figures and tables

Introducing APM

1. Study planning
1.1 Using this guide
1.2 How to study

2. Study areas
2.1 Introducing projects
2.1.1 Project environment
2.1.2 Project, programme and portfolio management
2.1.3 Project roles
2.1.4 Business case
2.1.5 Project life cycles
2.1.6 Project management plan
2.2 Planning for success
2.2.1 Stakeholder engagement
2.2.2 Communication
2.2.3 Risk and issue management
2.2.4 Quality management
2.2.5 Scope management
2.3 Achieving results
2.3.1 Estimating
2.3.2 Resource scheduling and optimisation
2.3.3 Information management and reporting
2.3.4 Leadership and teamwork

3. Self-assessment
 3.1 Test questions
3.2 Examination practice

Glossary
References
Index
Figures and tables

Figures
1.1.1 Illustration of PFQ learning structure
1.1.2 Pull out study guide planner
2.1.1.1 How the environment influences an organisation
2.1.2.1 Triple constraints of time, cost and quality
2.1.2.2 Projects, programmes and portfolios situated to deliver
strategic change
2.1.3.1 Example project management roles and structure
2.1.5.1 Linear project life cycle
2.1.5.2 Iterative development in dynamic, agile context
2.1.5.3 Hybrid life cycle
2.1.5.4 Extended life cycle
2.1.6.1 Different stakeholders that may need to contribute to
producing the PMP
2.2.1.1 An approach to capturing analysis of stakeholders
2.2.3.1 Risk management process and management products
2.2.4.1 Quality management as implemented within the project
2.2.5.1 Example PBS for an international conference
2.2.5.2 Example WBS structure derived directly from the PBS
2.2.5.3 Responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) showing RACI coding
2.2.5.4 Stages in a typical change control process and relationship
with configuration management
2.2.5.5 Activities involved in configuration management of an output
2.3.1.1 Estimating funnel showing factors that will influence the
accuracy of the estimate
2.3.2.1 Network created from work breakdown structure
2.3.2.2 Common dependency types
2.3.2.3 Network showing activity durations and critical path
2.3.2.4 Network and Gantt chart showing milestones
2.3.2.5 Milestone chart
2.3.2.6 Resource histogram showing the demand profile resulting from
resource allocation decisions
2.3.2.7 Resource histogram after levelling
2.3.2.8 Resource levelling and smoothing options
2.3.4.1 Factors that contribute to variance in leadership style
2.3.4.2 Stages of team development and leadership actions necessary
to reach performance
2.3.4.3 Belbin’s nine social roles

Tables
2.1.2.1 Differences between projects and BAU
Introducing APM

The Association for Project Management (APM) is the only chartered

body for the project profession, with over 30,000 individual members
and more than 500 organisations participating in our Corporate
Partnership Programme.

As a registered educational charity, we are committed to developing

and promoting the value of project management in order to deliver
improved project outcomes for the benefit of society.

There are a number of ways in which you can benefit from what we
do, including:

■ membership
■ qualifications
■ chartered status
■ publications
■ events.

Inspiring positive change – our vision and

mission
Our vision for the profession is ambitious, challenging and radical.
Above all, it reflects what society expects: A world in which all
projects succeed with project management as a life skill for all.
Our mission is: inspiring communities to deliver meaningful change for
societal benefit by advancing the art, science, theory and practice of
project management.

Our objectives
Chartered standard – We are the chartered body for the project
profession, leading the way in setting and maintaining a universally
high standard for the project profession. This includes chartership,
wider continuing professional development, qualifications and best
practice knowledge share. Our objective is to successfully position,
develop and launch the chartered standard to become the accepted
benchmark standard for project professionals.

Membership growth – We are the membership body for the entire

project profession, for all sectors, all locations, all stages of career
and all individuals. Our objective is to accelerate the growth, diversity
and global reach of our membership by engaging with new sectors
and communities.

Knowledge and research – We are the leading source of

knowledge and insights designed to facilitate discussion, inspire
improvement and assist application. Our objective is to advance the
art, science, theory and practice of project management and the
profession, supported by an innovative knowledge and research
programme.

Organisational innovation – We listen – to our members, to our

partners and to the world around us – in order to remain responsive,
relevant and sustainable in a constantly changing world. Our objective
is to define and build the association as the model of a sustainable
professional body for the 21st century.

Collaborate and engage – We work to raise awareness of the

project profession as a route to the delivery of public good. Our
objective is to accelerate the universal adoption of project
management by people delivering change through collaboration and
partnerships.

About the author

Raymond Stadnik has over 30 years’ experience of delivering change
within a wide range of organisations throughout the world. Part of that
time he has focused on developing the competence of people either
through classroom-based training or more intensive coaching events.

Raymond has now brought that experience to bear on the production

of the Project Fundamentals Qualification Study Guide. The guide
attempts to follow the APM project life cycle format as closely as
possible, suggesting a study timeline that mirrors a project timeline.

A timeline is a very important feature of any project. The study

guide should be written taking timing into account. Sections of the
guide should start with organisational context, strategy, concept,
planning, execution, handover and closure, then benefits and
outcomes. There are two choices here for the learner; study
project management academically topic by topic, or as an
unfolding project, building as it progresses. The latter option may
also be more in line with any project management experience a
user may have already observed. From a teaching perspective,
candidates who have studied project management using a timed
sequence, that mirrors an actual projects sequence, achieve
greater exam success.
Raymond Stadnik FAPM, author.
1 Study planning

1.1 Using this guide

This study guide has one main objective, to support you in your study
for the APM Project Fundamentals Qualification (PFQ). It is also
hoped that this guide will act as a reference after your success has
been rewarded and that it will occupy a deserved place on your
bookshelf, helping you to solve your real-life project management
dilemmas for years to come.

If you are using this guide as a means of self-study it is expected that

about 25–30 hours would be a good average time to devote to
becoming exam ready. This time includes planning, reading and
attempting the quick quizzes and some sample questions found in
Chapter 3.

When using this guide, think about your approach to learning in three
layers. The first layer is the main subject text; this is knowledge that
relates directly to the learning outcomes and assessment criteria.
This layer is the sufficient amount of study required to be prepared to
sit the PFQ exam. To further support your learning, you may consider
how project management influences your work and day-to-day
activity. This is where a second layer of learning may be useful. Each
subject has a ‘Think about …’ opportunity where learners can
consider projects that they may have some experience of, or where
their organisation is carrying out activity that require a project
management approach.
Sometimes during the learning of any subject, it can be difficult to
imagine just how some of the theory, techniques and processes can
actually be used in real-life practice, particularly if you are new to
project management. That’s where the third and final layer of learning
can provide some valuable insight into just how real projects deliver
what is required, actually using the very elements that you are about
to study. ‘The world of project management’ features, which
accompany some of the subject areas, provide examples of just how
projects are managed in the real world using examples drawn from
recent editions of APM’s quarterly journal, Project.

So, even with no practical project management experience, this guide

and the associated APM materials will help get you started as you
prepare for the PFQ exam. Provided, of course, you apply sufficient
personal effort to execute your plan.

When you first view this guide, the syllabus, candidate guidance and
other available material you are planning to use, you might think that
there is a lot of different numbering systems that may not seem to be
connected. Well you are not alone. That’s probably a common first
challenge experienced by most people wanting to tackle a substantial
subject like project management. It is, however, essential that you do
get to grips with the complete structure very early on and incorporate
this into your study planning. These introductory pages will help bring
all the different components together.

PFQ learning structure

The most important document for an initial review is the APM Project
Fundamentals Qualification Syllabus: learning outcomes and
assessment criteria aligned to the APM Body of Knowledge 7th
edition. You can download the syllabus from the APM website. The
syllabus highlights the 10 learning outcomes that describe the
knowledge you are required to demonstrate at a sufficient level to be
awarded the PFQ qualification. The learning outcomes contain 59
assessment criteria, which aim to show you what specific knowledge
is being examined for each learning outcome. Ultimately your
knowledge will be tested through 60 individual multiple-choice exam
questions.

The content of this learning guide will help you to accumulate the
necessary insight to demonstrate your knowledge to the required
level for this qualification. There are 15 study areas contained in the
study guide. Each study area fulfils the knowledge requirements for
one or more assessment criteria. The relationship between the study
guide, assessment criteria and learning outcomes is shown in Figure
1.1.1

Figure 1.1.1 Illustration of PFQ learning structure

Study guide planner

To help you plan your study and monitor your progress, you can use
the PFQ study guide planner. It shows the 15 study areas grouped
into the three main sections of the guide and mapped directly to each
learning outcome. As you complete the study of a particular subject
you can then tick it off on the planner, keeping track of your progress.
You will find that the study areas are overlaid onto the project life
cycle showing how the subjects relate to the sequence of a project.
This provides a rough outline of how a project might develop, which
may be helpful if you do not yet have any practical project
management experience. In reality a lot of the subject areas discuss
processes and frameworks that probably happen simultaneously and
throughout the whole life cycle, rather than starting and stopping as
the study guide suggests. See the study guide planner as more of a
revision aid rather than an example of an actual project plan.

Figure 1.1.2 Pull out study guide planner

Other supporting documentation

In addition to the syllabus, you are advised to download the APM
Project Fundamentals Qualification Guide for Candidates. This will
provide you with information concerning the exam procedures, exam
marking and notifications.

You should also download the latest version of the PFQ exam sample
paper. This contains examples of questions of a similar style to those
found in the live exam. This paper will give you a feel for the actual
exam and build your familiarity with the paper prior to your exam day.

Visit the PFQ information section of the qualifications page of the

APM website. Information is regularly updated and published to help
and support candidates taking the exam.

APM Body of Knowledge 7th edition

This study guide and the supporting documentation will assist you in
studying for and sitting the PFQ exam. You may also consider
purchasing the APM Body of Knowledge. While this is not strictly
necessary for PFQ study, as a lot of the content of this study guide is
taken directly from the APM Body of Knowledge, you might find some
of its other topics and content of interest in the future.

1.2 How to study

You will have your own preferences and approach to the way you
learn and they will influence the way you use this material. Many
candidates find that self-study is just as effective as classroom-based
courses, while for others the discipline and self-motivation required
for going it alone is just too demanding.

There are many benefits, therefore, in deciding early on how you are
going to schedule your studies in relation to all the other activities in
your daily life. By thinking about these aspects now you are likely to
benefit from a more enjoyable and meaningful learning experience.
This in turn will improve overall effectiveness and enable you to adopt
a more flexible approach to answering questions.

Suggested approaches
Consider the relationship between practice and theory, investigate
typical projects in your working environment, or do some online
research of projects that you hear about on your local news or in the
press. This type of research will allow you to appreciate the
connection between the theory and common practice out there in the
real world.

After completing each subject, look for opportunities where you can
apply some of the tools and techniques that you are learning. In
addition to theoretical study, application and appropriate feedback
are essential for effective learning. There are likely to be
opportunities to apply theory in your workplace, in social activities and
in the home, for example, a work-based project, a club project or a
DIY project.

You may be able to review past projects and discuss project

management performance with experienced project managers within
your organisation, or friends and family members who may work in a
project environment. You can obtain feedback on your own study
performance from peers, colleagues and supervisors, and there may
be opportunities to form study groups or social networks with others
who are also studying for the PFQ.

All of the activities discussed above can enhance your learning

experience significantly. However, you will need to be proactive in
identifying opportunities and include them in your learning plan.
Remember that a plan means nothing until it is executed; ensure you
take action.
Setting personal learning objectives and realistic
targets
On average, the core study time required is about 25–30 hours
including reading, quizzes and answering sample questions. Additional
time will be required for any optional learning activities, extra revision
sessions, attendance at coaching workshops and final exam
preparation.

The targeted time frame for study is only a suggestion and may vary
considerably depending on personal time constraints and any
previous experience of the subject matter. It is, therefore, important
to establish the feasibility of the target date you have set for taking
the exam and allow adequate study time. The key here is to be
realistic. If you dive into study to get to the exam as soon as
possible, your approach may not take into account all the other
activities that, up to this point, have gone by unnoticed and now they
too are making demands on your time. This is when you start missing
your goals, become disheartened and the plan is now in shreds. The
opposite can be just as challenging, where you purchase the guide,
don’t bother with a plan but start reading from page one expecting to
complete the guide at some point in the future. Months go by and
guess what? You still haven’t got past page 10 and you have read
page eight about 50 times!

What is needed, of course, is a balanced approach that allows you to

study, work and carry on your social and family life as normally as
possible. Tell your friends, family and work colleagues what you are
doing and the commitment you are expecting to make to gain a very
worthwhile qualification. They will be glad to support you and, of
course, join in the celebrations when you get a great pass in the
exam.

Common learning techniques

Mind mapping
A mind map is a powerful graphic technique that provides a universal
key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of
cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, colour and spatial
awareness – in a single, uniquely powerful manner. In so doing, it
gives you the freedom to roam the infinite expanses of your brain. A
mind map can be applied to every aspect of life where improved
learning and clearer thinking will enhance human performance.

Widely used in learning, mind maps were first developed in the late
1960s by Tony Buzan. Mind maps are now used by millions of people
around the world – from the very young to the very old – whenever
they wish to learn or use their minds more effectively. Mind maps can
be applied to most of life’s situations that involve any learning or
thinking.

If it has been some time since you last studied, you might find mind
maps helpful. An online search of ‘mind maps’ will give you more
information.

Prompt lists and checklists

If you are new to project management, the number of terms and
sheer volume of material may seem a little overwhelming. Breaking
down larger concepts into lists can often be a good way of taking
control of the material. Starting with each of the larger subject areas,
a hierarchy of related terms can be developed, then these can be
broken down into other associated terms.

Lists of terms can be useful, and lists of questions or prompts can

also aid learning. Ideal if you have a daily commute, using lists is an
easy way to revise and can be a break from reading and then re-
reading the material.

Flash cards
‘A picture paints a thousand words’ is commonly quoted to describe
the effect of using visual imagery as a substitute for lengthy text-
based information. When these images are created by learners and
placed on small cards they can act as aides-memoires to revise and
learn fundamental concepts. Learners report increased success rates
in exams when flash cards are used.

Flash cards can be used to show images or very short text

descriptions, and can be created by hand or on a computer and then
printed for use. There are also a number of free software
applications that allow the development of digital flash cards that can
be reviewed on a phone, mobile device or laptop. An online search of
‘flash cards’ will provide some insight into this potentially powerful
learning aid.

Study groups
If you work for an organisation where project management is a
common practice then the chances are that there will be others
learning project management at the same time as you. Ask those
around you if they know of anyone and discuss your course generally
with your colleagues. They may be interested in what you are doing,
so much so they may also decide to study for a project management
qualification.

Preparing and studying with others may mean that you can share
ideas, test each other and discuss some of the more practical
applications of project management within your organisation. It is
often satisfying to share areas of learning that you find more difficult
with others who may also find the same areas challenging. Together
you are able to piece together the solution and gain the satisfaction of
solving what was seen as a learning obstacle.
2 Study areas

2.1 Introducing projects

Organisations operate in a dynamic context, full of uncertainty,
novelty and turbulence. This section identifies just how organisations
can use projects, programmes and portfolios in order to enhance
performance, bring about change and enable organisations to adapt,
improve and grow. Project work therefore represents intentional
investment in development, enhancement and improvement.

The need for investment emerges from the aspirational plans and an
overarching purpose that transpire from the strategic intent of an
organisation. Project work encompasses strategic investments that
enable assets, structures, systems, activities and capabilities to be
formed, maintained or enhanced so that the organisational plans and
ambitions can be realised.

Organisational change is introduced through projects, programmes

and portfolios in order to deliver business value. The business value is
accrued through the realisation of benefits that result from project
work. Benefits are part of ensuring that investments are made to
deliver value to the organisation. This normally applies even when the
project is being done by a supplier or contracting organisation, or if
the work is needed to maintain current capability, or in order to
conform to new regulations or directives so that smooth business
operations can be allowed to proceed.

The successful deployment of change, the support of new behaviours

and the utilisation of new capability, resulting in the realisation of
benefits, involves engaging with, promoting and working with diverse
communities and groups. To ensure that value is created and
sustained, organisations need to consider and address the full
investment life cycle ensuring that forecasted benefits materialise.

Delivering strategy is enabled through the use of projects,

programmes and portfolios. Portfolios structure investments in line
with strategic objectives, while balancing, aligning and scrutinising
capacity and resources. Programmes combine business-as-usual
(steady-state) activities with projects dictated by strategic priorities.
Projects are transient endeavours that bring about change and
achieve planned objectives. Together, they combine to deliver the
beneficial change required to implement, enable and satisfy the
strategic intent of the organisation.

This section is the start of the learning journey and includes:

2.1.1 Project environment

2.1.2 Project, programme and portfolio management
2.1.3 Project roles
2.1.4 Business case
2.1.5 Project life cycles
2.1.6 Project management plan

2.1.1 Project environment

Learning objectives
This section introduces one of the main reasons why projects exist in
the first place. The environment is defined as the societal and/or
organisational setting of a project, programme or portfolio, also
described as the project context. By examining the project context,
stakeholders will understand how the project being considered relates
to the environment.
By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:

Learning outcome Assessment criteria

1. Understand project management and 1.6 Describe why PESTLE analysis might
the operating environment be used by a project manager

Every organisation is faced with a constantly changing environment

that creates problems, opportunities or business needs that require
some degree of response if threats are to be minimised,
opportunities exploited and business needs effectively addressed.
Every project is a response to the changing environment. Within that
environment are the factors that influence and impact projects, as
shown in Figure 2.1.1.1.

Figure 2.1.1.1 How the environment influences an organisation

Organisations must develop a strategic approach to managing

change. Projects deliver the beneficial change required to implement,
enable and satisfy the strategic intent of the organisation. Practically
this will be achieved by deploying new assets, functions, capabilities,
processes, structures and systems.

Why PESTLE analysis might be used by a project

manager
The environment is the driving force for the project. It is important for
the project manager to understand how these drivers are likely to
influence the project. They may impact how the project manager
delivers the project, what they deliver, who is involved and when it
needs to be delivered. Early on in the project the answers to some of
these questions may be uncertain. As a result, planning needs to be
flexible, options need to be effectively evaluated and various
scenarios assessed in order for the project to emerge as the
optimum solution to what might be a range of diverse needs.

The impact of infrastructure, physical environment, mitigating the

potential adverse impacts of other projects and the project’s
technology are just some of the factors the project manager must
take into account when planning the delivery of a project. Short-term
practical implementation impacts of the project as well as its
conceptual development and consequent long-term impacts also need
to be fully considered. In addition, project managers also need to be
attuned to internal aspects such as the cultural, organisational and
social environments of the project’s sponsoring organisation.

Understanding this environment includes identifying the project

stakeholders and their ability to affect its successful outcome. This
means working with people to achieve the best results, especially if
the project is based in a highly technical or complex environment.
Therefore, it is essential that the project manager and the project
team are comfortable with, and sympathetic towards, their physical,
technological, cultural, organisational and social surroundings. The
objective being the influencing of the project environment in a positive
way or changing the way the project is being delivered all with the
aim of gaining a better reception to the change that the project is
designed to introduce.

Resistance to change may be evident among some of the

stakeholders while others may have vested interests, or personal or
group agendas that are only indirectly related to the project. It is
important that these interests are identified and categorised
proactively and in a timely manner so that the corresponding risks,
which may otherwise undermine the success of the project, can be
significantly reduced. Failure to take such an approach could lead to
a less than optimum project outcome.

Every project team member needs to develop the attitude that, just
as they are stakeholders, every other project stakeholder is also
important. There should be a commitment to service and the creation
of a project management environment in which every decision and
action is designed to make the stakeholder’s experience better than it
would have been had the project not been implemented. It requires a
focus on the quality of the stakeholder’s experience at every stage of
the project.

There are a number of common forms of environmental analysis, from

simple external/internal factor analysis to ones using a more specific
framework. One of the more common forms of analysis for the
project environment is PESTLE analysis, a management technique to
help project management understand the environment in which the
project operates.

PESTLE analysis is a popular method of examining the many different

factors affecting an organisation and the project – the external or
internal influences on success or failure. The impact of these factors
on the project may be differentiated in six ways:

■ Political – Current and potential influences from political pressures.

■ Economic – Local, national and world economic impact.
■ Sociological – The effect of changes in the needs of society.
■ Technological – New and emerging technology.
■ Legal – Local, national and world legislation.
■ Environmental – Local, national and world environmental issues.
These six factors may be considered across the whole of the
organisation, or within specific business areas or in a specific project,
and could be considered as external only, internal only or both, in
order to determine the likely effects. Business areas could include:

■ customers/technology;
■ industry/marketplace/intermediaries;
■ competitors/stakeholders;
■ supply sources/time;
■ internal capability/governance requirements.

Following PESTLE analysis, an organisation would most likely have a

number of options available as to how the desired objectives could be
achieved. One strength of a business case for a project is that a
number of options have been considered and that there is evidence to
show that the organisation has not become over reliant on a single
idea, when there may be other more favourable options available.
Read about…
The world of project management

The subject that you have just studied shows how the project
needs to be responsive to the driving forces of the environment
and particularly the areas that are important to stakeholders.
Traditionally, project managers have had to balance the common
areas of the environment with the commercial aspects of
delivering the project, namely the cost of delivery, the time taken
and the performance of the output of the project within the
operations of the business requiring the change to take place.

More recent approaches suggest that project management should

also consider sustainability in addition to managing social,
environmental and economic aspects of the environment. This
relatively new consideration is demanding a greater degree of
engagement with stakeholders to create projects that will
ultimately lead to more sustainable development of an
organisation or society.

A project delivered by engineering, design and consultancy

company Ramboll for the British Antarctic Survey shows how
sustainability can be balanced alongside traditional environmental
considerations and still derive technical capability from what is
actually delivered.

Frame, plan, adapt, measure

Ramboll’s Bruce Wulff is working with the British Antarctic Survey
(BAS) to upgrade its facilities. Given that BAS is a research-
driven organisation and is committed to environmental
stewardship, sustainability is a key priority.

“There are more than 60 separate task orders within the

programme, so, to ensure a consistent approach to sustainability,
a programme-wide steering group was established,” Wulff says.
“It includes the client and all stakeholder groups, and sets an
overall strategy. It means we can build a sustainability
management plan [SMP] for each project, based on the relevant
parts of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.”

Some project measures are obvious: upgraded buildings are

designed around careful analysis of usage patterns and suitability
of on-site renewable energy technology, for example. But, even in
the Antarctic, looking at local sourcing is a key sustainability win.

“We are building a new wharf capable of berthing the new, larger
research vessel, the Sir David Attenborough,” says Wulff. “We
needed massive rock-fill, but rather than ship it in, we opened up
a small borrow-pit nearby. That not only slashed the carbon
footprint for transport, it also minimised the risk of introducing
invasive species.”

Continued on page 12

But Wulff stresses this in-the-field sustainability decision-making is

empowered by a clear SMP, which must be bedded in from the
start. It helps, he adds, to have a collegiate client in BAS, which
endorsed a partnership approach right through each project’s
supply chain.

That’s typified by the programme’s sustainability metrics, some of

which are captured in KPIs [key performance indicators] for each
project. At quarterly updates with the client and construction
partners, these form a key part of the discussion.

Originally published in Project Winter 2019.

 If you would like to read more about this example or other real-
world project examples, copies of APM’s Project journal can be
downloaded from the members’ resources area of the APM
website: apm.org.uk/project.

2.1.2 Project, programme and portfolio

management

Learning objectives
This section introduces the three layers of management involved in
delivering change to the organisation. The overall strategy is set
through the use of portfolio management and that strategy is
delivered using programme management to ensure benefits are
realised. None of this could be achieved without the delivery of each
individual project using project management.

By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:

Learning outcome Assessment criteria

1. Understand project 1.1 Define the term ‘project’
management and the
operating environment
1.2 State the differences between a project and
business-as-usual
1.3 Define the term ‘project management’
1.4 State the key purpose of project management
1.5 Define the terms ‘programme management’ and
‘portfolio management’ and their relationship with
project management
The term ‘project’
Projects are unique, transient endeavours, undertaken to bring about
change and achieve planned objectives. A project is usually deemed
to be a success if it achieves the objectives according to its
acceptance criteria, normally within an agreed timescale and budget.
Project work is conducted across normal organisational functional
areas, setting up a temporary organisation, drawing on the skills,
expertise and knowledge of the organisation, as well as third parties,
where appropriate.

Projects normally use capital expenditure to acquire, upgrade and

maintain assets, services, products and capability. Projects need to
take into account the ultimate requirements for decommissioning and
disposal.

In some settings, it is possible to find arrangements involving multiple

projects running in parallel, or related to one another, to provide
support or to build additional capabilities. Multiple concurrent projects
may require prioritisation in terms of scheduled deployment,
importance of primary deliverables or the availability of key
resources, skills or individuals.

Figure 2.1.2.1 Triple constraints of time, cost and quality

The project delivery environment is always considered as

constrained. That is, to obtain the value required from delivering the
project it has to be delivered within a certain time and for the required
budget, and it must deliver the specification, quality and performance
characteristics that will be sufficient for those who are going to use
the output of the project to gain the benefits required. The value of
these benefits must be greater than the investment required to deliver
the project’s output. All projects trade the triple constraints of time,
cost and quality to achieve the defined scope of the project as shown
in Figure 2.1.2.1.

Differences between a project and business-as-usual

The term business-as-usual (BAU) refers to an organisation’s normal
day-to-day operations. It can also be referred to as steady-state.
Projects contrast with BAU in a number of ways. It is important for
the success of the project that the project’s unique characteristics are
recognised and that the most appropriate structures, management
and controls are put in place.

Five common characteristics of projects and how they differ from

BAU are shown in Table 2.1.2.1.

Feature Projects Business-as-usual

Purpose Achieve objectives then terminate Sustain the organisation to
achieve its business purpose
and goals

Timescale Limited, temporary in nature, pre-defined start Ongoing, no defined end

and end points point

Outcome Unique product or service Repetitive, non-unique

product, service or result

People Temporary teams, formed across Teams formed within

organisational boundaries to meet project organisational structure and
needs. May not be aligned with organisational aligned to suit functional
structure demands

Management Dedicated manager appointed for the duration Long-term formal

of project only, may not have direct line management, direct line
authority over project team authority over functional unit
personnel
Table 2.1.2.1 Differences between projects and BAU

Typically, a project’s objective is to deliver outputs, for example, a

software solution, a building, a process or a service. The project
team transitions the outputs to an internal or external client to deliver
the desired outcomes and benefits. Sometimes, the project also
includes the work required to deliver outcomes and benefits. In such
cases, the project team leads more of the work to deliver the
changes required by the client to realise the project’s intended
benefits.

BAU, on the other hand, uses the products of the project to realise
the benefits. It is unusual for projects to deliver any benefits into the
organisation during their deployment (unless there is some form of
phased roll-out, or a delivery contractor benefits by being paid to
deliver specific phases).

The term ‘project management’

Project management is the application of processes, methods, skills,
knowledge and experience to achieve specific project objectives for
change according to the project acceptance criteria within agreed
parameters. Project management has finite deliverables that are
constrained to a finite timescale and budget.

A key factor that distinguishes project management from just

‘management’ is that it has this final deliverable and a constrained
timespan, unlike management, which is an ongoing process. Because
of this a project manager needs a wide range of skills: often technical
skills, and certainly people management skills and good business
awareness.

Project managers must understand the relative priorities of time, cost

and quality as important parts of the decision as to which
management approach will suit best.

The key purpose of project management

Change poses difficulties for organisations because of the complex
relationships between the business environment, the organisation, its
people and supporting technologies; any change in one aspect will
affect one or more of the others. A structured approach to change is
more likely to mean that the change is successful and the business
gains only a positive effect from the change. Approaching change in
this structured way is the foundation of project management. Think of
change as a project and the best way to manage change is to use
project management.

Projects bring about change and enable organisations to adapt,

improve and grow. Project work therefore represents intentional
investment in development, enhancement and improvement.

The terms ‘programme management’ and ‘portfolio

management’ and their relationship with project
management
Programmes can be defined as unique, transient, strategic
endeavours undertaken to achieve beneficial change, and they
incorporate a group of related projects and business-as-usual
(steady-state) activities. The distinction between projects and
programmes depends on the context and the guiding criteria between
them often relates to the complexity of scope and the addition of
change activities. The need for significant improvement will be
consistent with the organisation’s strategy, and programmes will help
to deliver elements of that strategy.

Programmes typically combine new deployment with some elements

of business-as-usual. Consequently, they use capital expenditure to
acquire assets, services, products and capability, alongside meeting
operating expenses incurred as a result of performing normal
business operations.

Programmes are often defined as delivering change, and would

typically incorporate the full utilisation of benefits to satisfy the
business case. The overall measure of success is determined by the
actual realisation of the expected benefits, which frequently involves
the use of capabilities or facilities created by the programme in an
ongoing, business-as-usual manner.

Portfolios are used to select, prioritise and control an organisation’s

programmes and projects, in line with its strategic objectives and
capacity to deliver. Their goal is to balance the implementation of
change initiatives and the maintenance of business-as-usual, while
optimising return on investment. It would be typical for organisations
to have projects that were part of a programme, part of a portfolio or
stand-alone. The latter would be where the project would be
managed independently by the host organisation of any existing
programme or portfolio as shown in Figure 2.1.2.2.

Figure 2.1.2.2 Projects, programmes and portfolios situated to deliver strategic change

Portfolios are used to structure investments. They can be managed

at an organisational or functional level (e.g. including all IT initiatives)
to optimise strategic benefits or operational efficiency, respectively.
They address a number of major questions:

■ Are these the projects and programmes needed to deliver the

strategic objectives, subject to risk, resource constraints and
affordability?
■ Is the organisation delivering them effectively and efficiently?
■ Are the full potential benefits from the organisation’s investment
being realised?

Portfolios are particularly concerned with the interdependencies

between projects and programmes in terms of:

■ scarce or limited resources;

■ balance within the portfolio (e.g. between risks and returns);
■ alignment with the strategic intent and main priorities;
■ timing;
■ capacity bottlenecks (where a number of projects need access to a
scarce resource at the same time).

Portfolio success relates to the soundness of the investment and

depends on the ability to address the above concerns and questions.
The management of a structured portfolio involves constant review of
the balance of investment and benefit, creating and closing projects
and programmes as required.
Read about…
The world of project management

Some of the largest organisations in the world use portfolio

management to enable their businesses to succeed in a rapidly
changing environment. A prime example of this was an article
written for APM’s Project journal by John McIntyre where he
explained how Silicon Valley’s Objectives and Key Results
approach to strategy and portfolio management will allow projects
to flex and adapt.

This excerpt from John’s article shows how Google tackles

portfolio management.

From start-up Google to portfolio management

When Google was a start-up, it used the Objectives and Key
Results (OKRs) framework to define where it was going, to align
its teams and to set itself ambitious targets. The framework has
scaled with it and is still in use today. OKRs are defined at the
highest level and are cascaded down. Everyone understands the
vision, which is encapsulated by the objectives and measured by
the associated key results. Individuals are granted the flexibility to
set their own OKRs too, so that the top-down objectives are
balanced with bottom-up objectives, which serve to prevent a silo
mentality building up.

How does this link to portfolio management? As someone with a

projects background, my approach to portfolio management
mirrored my approach to projects. Lock down the scope and plan,
then manage risk. The portfolio plan was usually constructed as a
sum of the projects that were running within it. The portfolio
outcomes were derived from the benefits we expected to see
from the projects. If the outcomes broadly aligned with the
business plan, then all was good. We had a portfolio plan! If not,
we would make changes, swapping projects out and adding
initiatives in – balancing capacity with requirement until we felt that
we had it right.
 Originally published in Project Winter 2019.

If you would like to read more about this example or other real-
world project examples, copies of APM’s Project journal can be
downloaded from the members’ resources area of the APM
website: apm.org.uk/project.

2.1.3 Project roles

Learning objectives
This section introduces the key roles that are members of a typical
project organisation structure. Projects are temporary endeavours
and therefore, by definition, have a temporary structure established
by the people in the permanent organisation to manage activities and
resources to deliver specific objectives within predetermined time
frames.

By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:

Learning outcome Assessment criteria

3 Understand the 3.1 Outline project management roles and responsibilities (including
roles and the project sponsor, project manager, project governance,
responsibilities project team members, end users, product owner and the
within projects project management office)

One of the biggest challenges faced by the project manager in

creating the project organisation, is defining the roles that are
necessary. The project has a different culture to the day-to-day
organisation. Most of the roles are cross-functional team activities,
where the traditional organisational hierarchy dissolves. Distinct roles
need to be clearly defined and the relationship between them fully
established, this not only promotes teamwork but also ensures a
complete coverage of responsibilities and ownership. A typical project
organisation structure is shown in Figure 2.1.3.1.

Figure 2.1.3.1 Example project management roles and structure

The roles and responsibilities of the project sponsor

The sponsor is the individual considered the primary risk taker and
has ultimate accountability and overall responsibility for the project.
The sponsor will most likely have managed the project through the
initial phase. Once the business case has been approved a project
manager will be appointed to take over delivery of the project. The
sponsor remains accountable for ensuring that the project’s benefits
are realised when the project is handed over to operations.

The sponsor is a member of and has the delegated authority of the

steering group, as a chairperson, to assist with business
management and project management issues that arise outside the
formal duties of the steering group. The sponsor also lends support
by advocacy at a senior level and ensures that the necessary
resources (both financial and human) are available to the project. The
project champion, corporate client and project sponsor may be the
same person for some projects.

Sponsor responsibilities include:

■ being the arbiter for user and stakeholder requirements through

chairing of the steering group;
■ determining the relative priority of time cost and quality;
■ initiating the project and ensuring a project manager is appointed;
■ monitoring high-level project progress and making control decisions
when necessary and when escalated by the project manager;
■ monitoring the project’s business environment and reviewing the
business case at gate reviews;
■ keeping senior management informed of project progress;
■ terminating the project if necessary, after gate review;
■ providing ongoing support to the project manager;
■ developing and maintaining ownership of the business case.

The roles and responsibilities of the project manager

The project manager’s role is to plan, organise, staff, motivate,
evaluate, direct, control and lead the project from start to finish and
to deliver the project objectives.

Project manager responsibilities include:

■ delivering the project to time, cost and quality/performance

priorities;
■ making timely decisions to ensure project success;
■ communicating with the sponsor, informing them of progress and
seeking direction when necessary to aid success;
■ managing sponsor and user expectations;
■ defining and planning the project through the creation of the project
management plan;
■ monitoring and controlling project progress;
■ building, leading and motivating the project team throughout the
project;
■ ensuring work packages are allocated and the responsibilities
identified;
■ keeping the sponsor and senior management informed of
progress/problems/issues;
■ initiating reviews and assisting the sponsor in making the decision
to terminate the project, if justified;
■ communicating and acting as prime point of contact with team
members, other organisations, contractors, suppliers and
operations representatives.

The roles and responsibilities of project governance

Governance in the project is implemented through a governance
board that comprises representatives of the functions and
departments within the organisation who are investing in, or being
impacted by the project, programme or portfolio.

The members of the governance board have responsibility for

overseeing deployment and making decisions throughout the chosen
life cycle in a way that is commensurate with the size and complexity
of the work being undertaken. Governance boards have a variety of
titles, including steering committee, steering group, project board,
programme boards, etc. The extent and limit of a governance board’s
authority is defined by terms of reference or a board charter, typically
developed by the sponsor. This board will influence each project in a
number of ways, for example:

■ projects will have a relevant business case to secure funding and

assess initial and ongoing feasibility;
■ all projects will follow a recognised project life cycle, used to
transfer governance to each project through phases with various
control points, such as gate reviews, audits and evaluation reviews;
■ organisations will seek to agree a structured methodology for the
delivery of projects ensuring that there is consistency of practice
throughout the whole organisation;
■ clearly defined processes and documentation maintained
throughout the delivery of the project, such as the project
management plan, will ensure that all project management activities
are to best practice principles;
■ more effective decision-making at stage gates where the sponsor
can initiate a review of the project taking account of the current
environment and impact of change;
■ reporting and escalation routes with clearly defined roles and
responsibilities will ensure prompt attention and control of risk and
issues;
■ effective quality management will ensure the effective use of quality
assurance and independent audit processes.

The roles and responsibilities of project team members

Project team members may stay with the project throughout its life or
may only join the team to carry out a specific task. The primary role
of the project team is to support the project manager in managing the
project to meet its objectives, by providing the combined expertise to
allow the project objectives and scope to be correctly identified and
achieved.

Specific responsibilities may include:

■ managing communication with stakeholders as assigned in the
communication plan;
■ managing sections of the work breakdown structure (identifying
tasks, estimating, monitoring, problem solving, ensuring completion
to the specified quality, on time and within budget);
■ acting as risk owner and effectively managing risk within their area
of expertise;
■ supporting the project manager and other team members in solving
project-wide problems (acting as action owners);
■ contributing to the evaluation of the project at all stages and
reviews.

The roles and responsibilities of end users

Users are accountable for specifying operational requirements and
for accepting and operating the deliverables to achieve the defined
benefits.

User responsibilities include:

■ identifying project requirements, ensuring objective separation of

‘must haves’ and ‘wants’;
■ identifying project constraints and dependencies;
■ accepting and operating the deliverables;
■ providing practical assistance and guidance through a user
representative or senior user as part of the steering group
structure if it exists;
■ assisting the project manager with handover/acceptance;
■ informing the project manager of any operational changes that may
influence delivery;
■ actively participating as a member of the project team.
The roles and responsibilities of the product owner
The product owner’s main contribution is to lead the focus on product
development. Very much part of an agile approach, they have strong
expertise and deep knowledge of stakeholders’ needs and can act as
the intermediary between stakeholders and those team members
delivering the project.

Product owner responsibilities include:

■ defining goals and creating vision for the operability of the project’s
outputs;
■ communicating with stakeholders to ensure that the project remains
aligned with business objectives;
■ providing feedback to the project team on task dependencies,
constraints, priorities and progress in relation to business needs;
■ establishing priorities for scope, budget and time with relation to
stakeholder requirements;
■ acting as the primary communication link between stakeholders and
teams, ensuring stakeholder buy-in, linking major decisions with
strategy and providing clear instructions and outlines of deliverables
to product developers;
■ evaluating progress, providing feedback to the team on delivery
performance and advising if continuation is feasible.

The roles and responsibilities of the project

management office (PMO)
When an organisation is responsible for delivering many simultaneous
projects there will be management tasks that are common to all of
these projects. Other common areas could include information
management, governance services, reporting and general
administration. It could benefit an organisation if these common needs
could be brought together to form a central core of services to all
projects the organisation delivers. This could be achieved through the
creation of a PMO).

The payback that any organisation undertaking considerable

investment in a PMO could be improved deployment support, process
improvement and increased resource flexibility. In addition, PMOs can
provide access to services that might never be justified for a single
project, for example:

■ Controls and reporting – Collecting, analysing and presenting

progress information and managing interdependencies.
■ Assurance – Audits, health checks and reviews to support decision
gates and change control.
■ Centre of excellence – Improving processes, tools and techniques;
embedding best practice through training and support; and
measuring capabilities to review progress and target higher levels
of maturity.
■ Specialist support – Provision of specialist skills such as risk,
quality, planning or finance resources as role models to other
project professionals.
■ Information management – Document management and access to
information, tools and services.
2.1.4 Business case

Learning objectives
This section considers the business case, which provides the
justification for undertaking a project or programme. It evaluates the
benefit, cost and risk of alternative options and provides a rationale
for the preferred solution. The very first consideration of a project by
the organisation provides the opportunity to evaluate the options that
may be available.

By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:

Learning outcome Assessment criteria

4. Understand project 4.4 Outline the purpose and typical content of a business
management planning case
4.5 Explain the role of a project sponsor and project
manager in relation to developing a business case
4.7 Define the term ‘benefits management’

Purpose and typical content of a business case

All organisations, either private or public, must be accountable for
how funds are used and the level of returns gained from these funding
decisions. The business case provides a recognised framework
through which project spending proposals can be recorded, reviewed
and audited to learn lessons about how efficiently the organisation is
deploying funds to achieve its targeted returns.

The business case will be referred to throughout the project in order

to make decisions about the continuing viability of supporting the
change initiative. Reviews will be carried out at the end of and prior to
starting major project phases with the intention of avoiding continued
investment when it appears unlikely that the project will achieve the
returns that justify such funding. A decision to terminate a project
could be for a number of reasons. A changing economic environment
may cause increases in the cost of providing funding and therefore
increase costs to an unacceptable level. The output being delivered
may be forecasted to not deliver the benefits that were planned.
Societal trends may mean that the output is no longer a desirable
commodity for the intended user population.
Typical business case content
At the highest level the business case will show the level of
investment required, the change intended and the resulting benefits.
An environmental analysis may show the distinct background and
business drivers stimulating the organisation at this time. The detail of
how this is documented can vary depending on the business sector of
the sponsoring organisation and the level of accountability expected.
There are, however, some fundamental aspects that would be
common to most business situations.

Background/situation – This will capture the essence of why the

project is needed, including information such as environmental
analysis, market situation and the output of any research studies that
have been carried out. The information in this section should clearly
state the problem, opportunity or business need the project is
intended to address.

Benefits – A full agreement of how the benefits will be realised and

measured, and how the stakeholders will be involved, is crucial to
ultimate feasibility. This information should be sufficient for
stakeholders to understand the operations and ongoing maintenance
required to enable the acceptance and use of the benefits.

Budget – This refers to the funds that are expected to be consumed

as a result of delivering the project. There may also be contingency
allowances to take account of uncertainties. As the project
progresses further, more granular cost estimates will be produced
and reflected back to the business case budget.

Risks – The longer the timescale of the project the more difficult it
may be to identify the level of uncertainty and the most effective
approach. Business case risks are the most important to identify. If
they can’t be mitigated at this stage it may mean that the project is
abandoned or a less risky strategy pursued.
Options appraisal – The strength of any business case is increased
when a full range of possible options has been considered. This
shows that the organisation has not become over reliant on a single
idea, but that it has reflected on what other options may be possible
with the available funds. The do-nothing option may also be
considered. When the final business case is ultimately produced, it is
approved not only on the basis of being a good idea in itself, but also
that in relation to alternatives it was the strongest option. It is
common for options to be subject to a financial appraisal considering
relative costs in relation to time and the phasing of return value.
Options appraisal is a major part of the justification for the chosen
option to proceed.

Additional content – As well as the above, the business case may

also document information on timeline, success criteria, stakeholders,
constraints, assumptions, dependencies and details of any plans.

Role of a project sponsor and project manager in

relation to developing a business case
As well as a structured approach to business case development, the
views of a number of key stakeholders will also be essential. This will
ensure that the business case that has been approved is seen as a
realistic proposition by those who may have influence on the resulting
project deployment and actual transition of the output into operational
use and subsequent benefits realisation.

The following stakeholders may be involved in business case

development and contribute to its content:

Project steering group (project board) – The members of the

project steering group are often made up of corporate management
who, in their monitoring of the organisation’s external or internal
business environment, have defined a need to consider that change
options should be explored.
Project sponsor – Appointed by the steering group and considered
as the owner of the business case, the sponsor will lead its
development during the earliest phase of the project. Ultimately the
business case may be approved by the steering group and funding
released in order that the project proceeds to detailed planning.

Project manager – While there may be a sound business case from

a financial point of view, this becomes meaningless if there has been
no recognition of how the resultant project is actually going to be
managed and delivered. The project manager will be appointed by
the sponsor and will contribute detail about the reality of delivering
such a change. In some cases, where the project is a smaller internal
project within a functional department of the organisation, the project
manager may write the business case under the direction of the
functional manager (in effect, the sponsor). In this case the project
manager may solicit the input of others in the organisation to form the
business case content, but it should always be the functional manager
who remains accountable for the business case realising the benefits
planned.

Other business case contributors

An effective business case results from the consideration of
alternative options in addition to the views of stakeholders who may
influence either the project output or benefits realisation when the
output becomes operable. Other key contributors could be:

Users – They will be key to providing the sponsor with insight about
how the output will be operated within business-as-usual. It is their
perspective that will add most value to the project and be key to
benefits realisation.

Business analyst – This may be an internal role or brought in to the

organisation as an external consultant, providing a vital link between
the project, its stakeholders and both the internal and external
environments. A strength of a skilled business analyst is the
experience they have gained in other projects and the implementation
of these lessons learned in planning a new project.

Subject matter experts – These stakeholders could provide

expertise in such areas as procurement, human resources, finance,
specific technical areas and process application.

Suppliers – This can sometimes be used as a blanket term when

describing some of the roles above. Any stakeholder who has the
capacity to input significant detailed knowledge to make the writing of
the business case possible and to add value to the decision-making
could be considered a supplier.

Taking account of this wide range of contribution can increase the

objectivity and stability of a business case throughout the life cycle of
the project.

The term ‘benefits management’

In most cases a project is initiated in order to deliver change and
beneficial outcomes to the sponsoring organisation. The business
case documents a detailed account of the decision-making that has
underpinned the project to the point where benefits realisation is
possible. Benefits management is the identification, definition,
planning, tracking and realisation of business benefits.

Benefits realisation is the practice of ensuring that benefits are

derived from outputs and outcomes, and is essential to support the
achievement of the business case. The business case should contain
detail of the upfront plan for any supplemental activities and additional
considerations necessary in order for the project output to be in the
optimal state for benefits realisation to be possible. The income
expected and any operational costs connected to additional activities,
including capital expenditure, should also be considered.

During the investment appraisal of project options, the business case

for the project depends on stakeholders, such as business change
managers reflecting enough to accurately attribute benefits at the
right level – avoiding aspects that yield value being missed or ‘double-
counted’.

A benefits management plan ensures that there is a proactive

management approach to maintain a focus on benefits driven change
throughout the entire life of the project.

2.1.5 Project life cycles

Learning objectives
This section introduces life cycles which are fundamental to the
management of any project. Organisations will often set a standard
approach for project delivery, depending on the desired outputs,
benefits and outcomes that are expected.

By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:

Learning outcome Assessment criteria

2. Understand project life 2.1 State the phases of a typical linear project life
cycles cycle
2.2 State the phases of a typical iterative project life
cycle
2.3 Define the term ‘hybrid life cycle’
2.4 Define the term ‘extended project life cycle’

Whatever life cycle is chosen, it will provide a structure for governing

the progression of the work by acting as an important management
tool. It will allow focus on the allocation of resources, the integration
of activities, the availability of key individuals, the support of timely
decision-making and the mitigation of risk. Additionally, the life cycle
also allows the provision of control and governance mechanisms
matching the life cycle structure. Consequently, it is important that
sponsors and project managers understand the characteristics and
specific features of the selected approach.

Approaches to deployment range between highly predictive and highly

adaptive settings. The choice between predictive and adaptive
philosophies is largely influenced by the availability of knowledge.
More predictive approaches tend to rely on knowledge identified at
the start, allowing work to proceed in a sequential manner, while
adaptive contexts imply that new knowledge is created as the work
progresses, which is then used to inform and guide the remaining
effort. Adaptive approaches allow more key stakeholders to
contribute and shape the development process.

Phases of a typical linear project life cycle

A project progresses through a sequential series of steps, known as
phases, from start to finish as shown in Figure 2.1.5.1. Each phase
provides only partial capability until the final desired state is reached,
usually at the end of the last phase. This is suitable for stable, low-
risk environments. When the project scope is defined the phases may
be sub-divided into smaller elements within the timeline, referred to
as stages.

Figure 2.1.5.1 Linear project life cycle

A typical linear life cycle encompasses multiple phases:

Concept – Development of an initial idea through initial studies and

high-level requirements management, and assessment of viability,
including an outline business case.

Definition – Development of a detailed definition, plans and

statement of requirements that include a full justification for the work.
It would be typical of a project management plan to form the output
of this phase.

Deployment – Implementation of plans and verification of

performance through testing and assurance to realise intended
outputs, outcomes and benefits.

Transition – Handover, commissioning and acceptance of outputs to

the sponsor and wider users, culminating in formal closure.

The linear approach aims to be highly structured, predictable and

stable, providing a transparent format for managing contracts and
allowing maximum control and governance over the process. It works
particularly well for undertaking the delivery of well-understood and
clearly defined outputs, trading time, cost and risk to achieve the right
scope and quality.

On the other hand, it assumes the availability of relatively perfect

knowledge upfront, while being resistant to change and inflexible in
terms of corrections and rework. It also implies a long sequence,
culminating in the ultimate handover. Dividing knowledge into distinct
phases in this way can often create silos and knowledge barriers
between the phases, particularly when different delivery agents will
deliver different phases. Those carrying out work in the deployment
phase may have a tendency to blame activity in the previous phase
for any problems they encounter while delivering their assigned
workload. In addition, they may have very little incentive to pass on
learning to help those delivering pieces of work further on in
deployment.

Phases of a typical iterative project life cycle

Iterative project life cycles are most commonly used in agile
development projects. Agile is a family of development methodologies
where requirements and solutions are developed iteratively and
incrementally throughout the life cycle. The life cycle used in an agile
approach is composed of several iterations allowing the deployment
of initial capability, followed by successive deliveries of further value.
They are based on the idea of concurrency, or simultaneous
engineering, where different development steps are performed in
parallel. Iterative life cycles repeat one or more of the phases before
proceeding to the next one, and manage uncertainty regarding the
scope by allowing the objectives to evolve throughout the life cycle as
learning and discovery take place. Prototypes, timeboxes or parallel
activities are used to acquire new insights, obtain feedback or explore
high-risk options. The scope of this activity depends on the level of
uncertainty and the organisational appetite for risk. The duration may
extend throughout deployment.

Figure 2.1.5.2 Iterative development in dynamic, agile context

Source: The DSDM Agile Project Framework Handbook, 2014

There are six phases in an iterative life cycle and these are shown in
Figure 2.1.5.2. During the ‘pre-project’ phase, iterative life cycles
begin by developing a high-level vision. The ‘feasibility’ and
‘foundation’ phases ensure that the finer detail is uncovered during the
cycles of iteration. The ‘evolutionary development’ phase allows the
specification and design to run in parallel and so, fast tracks to
deployment. Iterations are thus used to progressively elaborate and
improve understanding based on client interaction with learning
between the iterations. Iterations are applied when the goals are
clear but the means of achieving them are not. The rapid deployment
of smaller, partial solutions becomes the basis for gaining fast
feedback and new insights about what needs to be done. Iterations
are often conducted through working prototypes that stakeholders
use as the basis for adaptation and improvement. The ‘deployment’
phase seeks to bring the evolving solution into operational use either
fully or using an incremental solution that delivers partial
requirements, using user experience to form the next solution
increments. The final phase, ‘post project’, identifies whether the
solution has delivered the benefits to the degree required to achieve
the business case.

Overall, using iterations allows earlier return on some of the benefits

that have already been implemented while validating the concepts and
engaging users.

The term ‘hybrid life cycle’

There is no single life cycle model that would suit all applications. The
choice is dependent on what the organisation is trying to achieve and
what aspects of the project are important. Hybrid life cycles,
therefore, enable a pragmatic mix of approaches, typically fusing
together elements from predictive and adaptive perspectives to
create a new model or approach. For example, using iterative or agile
methods for early requirements gathering, where the uncertainty is
greatest, and following it up with incremental or sequential processes,
derived from the two previously mentioned life cycle models, to
formalise deployment, as shown in Figure 2.1.5.3.
Figure 2.1.5.3 Hybrid life cycle

The use of prototyping, time boxing or iterative thinking offers tested

methods for experimentation and risk reduction.

Adding iterative elements to ‘predictive’ projects can enhance

deployment in stages, support the generation of insights, underpin the
realisation of an early benefit stream and validate some of the ideas
much earlier in the cycle. Blending, merging or mashing of life cycles,
ideas, principles, practices and methods can apply equally to
programmes and portfolios. Building agile working into a project or
programme can offer increased efficiency and flexibility. However, it
also requires great skill and clarity when using multiple different
systems of working.

The term ‘extended life cycle’

Depending on the particular scope of a project and what it is
delivering, the life cycle chosen can present a number of
considerations. Some projects will be part of a programme and will
be concerned with coordinating the delivery of multiple outputs. Some
projects will work as stand-alone projects and would be primarily
concerned with delivering their outputs only. Other projects will be
expected to incorporate the management of change and the
realisation of benefits, and hence require a greatly extended life
cycle, as shown in Figure 2.1.5.4. Where a contractor is working for
a client, the contractor’s ‘project’ may simply be the deployment and
transition phases of the client’s project and will include the capability
for benefits realisation. In these circumstances the client is
responsible for operating the outcomes in a manner that will obtain
the desired benefits. In this case the host organisation must ensure
attention is given not only to managing the project to closure but also
focusing attention on the operational phases, effectively extending the
life cycle.

Figure 2.1.5.4 Extended life cycle

Extended life cycles ensure that accountability and governance of the

investment stays with a single organisation until the change is fully
embedded by offering the missing connection to benefits realisation,
while preventing the formation of knowledge boundaries between
project teams and operations.

Recognising that many projects are initiated in order to deliver change

and beneficial outcomes to organisations, life cycles can incorporate
a further phase named ‘benefits realisation’ that may proceed up to
the achievement of the business case.

An additional underpinning phase is also required in order to realise

benefits as new outputs need to be made available and accessible to
potential users. This may need to be enabled and operated
separately. The additional activities included in the extended life cycle
encompass:

Adoption – Operations and sustainment required to utilise the new

project and enable the acceptance and use of the benefits.

Benefits realisation – Realisation of the required business benefits.

The principal implication of extending the end of the life cycle to

incorporate benefits realisation is that there is a need to start upfront,
planning for the supplemental activities and incorporating additional
considerations during the concept and definition phases. There are
income and operational costs connected to the additional activities as
well as spending capital expenditure considerations which will be
addressed during the concept and definition phases.

2.1.6 Project management plan

Learning objectives
This section considers the output of a process of integrated planning
for a project and documents this detail in the project management
plan (PMP). At this stage the fundamental management components
of scope, schedule, cost, risk, quality and resources will be defined.
The project manager owns the PMP.

By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:
 Learning outcome Assessment criteria
4. Understand project 4.1 Define the term ‘deployment baseline’
management planning
4.2 State how deployment baselines differ between linear
and iterative life cycles
4.3 Outline the stakeholders of a project management plan
4.10 Explain why establishing success criteria is important
at the start, during, and at handover of a project

The term ‘deployment baseline’

Once each of the management components have been planned and
integrated this will form the deployment baseline, which is approved,
along with the PMP, at the decision gate associated with the approval
of significant project costs. Some projects may have an integrated
baseline review to provide assurance prior to approval. The approval
of the deployment baseline is a good time to reconfirm the
boundaries of the project – both what is in and out of scope, and how
the project interfaces with other projects or business-as-usual
activities in a programme or strategic portfolio. Some areas may
require a rework of the integrated plan prior to approval – either to
adjust scope or to make provision for a different amount of cost
contingency to take account of exposure to risks, and to fund risk
responses that are not built into core scope.

The project can then proceed to the deployment phase where the
deployment baseline will be used for monitoring progress and
implementing change control.

The deployment baseline in linear and iterative life

cycles
Depending on particular project objectives and the life cycle chosen,
different approaches to planning time, resources and cost, in the
context of risk, can be adopted.
When using a linear life cycle approach, the assumption underpinning
integrated planning is that all the work can be defined, estimated,
scheduled, resourced and costed, and associated risks can be
assessed. This may be done to different levels of granularity in the
near term and the long term; nevertheless, a management baseline
can be established from which deployment can be managed and
controlled, and the value expectations are then understood for the
whole project. Unexpected issues will inevitably arise during
deployment, but this does not negate the need for the best plan
possible before work starts.

When using an iterative life cycle approach, a baseline plan is still

required, but the assumptions underpinning the plan are different, with
flexibility and agility built into the thinking. In an iterative project life
cycle, the baseline resources and schedule are determined, but the
achievement of scope and quality may vary from the plan as teams
may have autonomy to re-prioritise tasks and act on new knowledge.
Any work not achieved in the time allocated is returned to an existing
backlog allowance, to then be planned into the future schedule or
removed from the project.

Linear life cycles treat scope and quality as the driver and calculate
the consequential consumed time and cost. Iterative projects commit
to set resources over limited periods to deliver products that are
developed over successive cycles. Many organisations use a hybrid
linear/iterative approach to projects and programmes most of the
time. The challenge is to plan in the most effective way to give the
investing organisation the best possible chance of achieving the
objectives and benefits described in the business case.

The stakeholders of a project management plan

The PMP is the consolidated plan for the project and as such
communicates the details of the approved project plans to
stakeholders. It has been produced through a facilitated exercise led
by the project manager with the engagement of all key stakeholders
who will be involved in the deployment of the project and will act as a
reference source for all other stakeholders as shown in Figure
2.1.6.1.

It is important to have as much continuity as possible throughout

deployment. Achieving this can often be difficult, particularly if the
project resources are procured under a specific contract and are not
considered as employed staff. In circumstances like these there can
often be a large amount of staff turnover. This transient flow of
resources should not adversely affect the project if the PMP is
available, up to date and used as a major part of the induction
material for new members of the team.

Figure 2.1.6.1 Different stakeholders that may need to contribute to producing the PMP

The PMP is often referred to as the ‘contract’ between the project

manager and the sponsor and as such clearly illustrates the extent of
that agreement. It is important for the project manager to fully
understand what is expected of them prior to committing to
deployment. The PMP acts as a valuable source of clarification in this
respect. It is important when conducting gate reviews that the current
PMP is used as a reference source.
Typical contents of a project management plan
In essence the PMP should answer the why? what? when? who?
where? and how? of the project. The how much? question may also
be asked. The size of the project will influence the size of the PMP,
which may run into several volumes, for example, for the construction
of a large nuclear power station, but may only be several pages for a
small, simple internal project.

Why? This question has already been answered by the business

case. The PMP will therefore reference details from the business
case, which can act as an appendix to the PMP.

What? This contains a specific description of the scope of the project

in the first instance and then becomes more refined as the project
nears deployment. Also contained here are details of the acceptance
criteria and any important constraints.

When? The timeline will be outlined here together with various

supporting documentation such as a Gantt chart and project life cycle
approach.

Who? The organisation breakdown structure (OBS) will be shown

here together with responsibility assignments, reporting lines and role
descriptions.

How much? This considers the budget presented as a cost

breakdown structure (CBS) showing how the budget has been
allocated to the work. It is likely that the cash flow for the project will
be presented in the form of a spending projection for the project
duration.

Where? This presents the logistics of the project location and site
conditions, and outlines any major restrictions or constraints
regarding access, or particular delivery requirements and security
protocols.
How? This is probably the most comprehensive part of the document,
and outlines the management strategy for the project. These
management plans would contain process steps, template
documents, roles and responsibilities, communication requirements
and the detailed information necessary to allow those involved in
deployment to follow the required process. Specific management
plans could exist for the following areas:

■ risk;
■ quality;
■ procurement;
■ stakeholders and communication;
■ safety;
■ scope;
■ change control procedures;
■ cost;
■ project controls;
■ information.

This information when assembled in a self-contained document is now

a standard reference for all concerned with the project. The list given
may not all be applicable to every project but represents common
examples of content.

The importance of establishing success criteria at the

start, during, and at the handover of a project
Project success is the satisfaction of stakeholder needs and is
measured by the success criteria agreed at the start of a project. All
projects are designed to bring benefits to the investing organisation,
but the success criteria for many projects excludes benefits
realisation as this is handled by another part of the organisation.
Success criteria are agreed with stakeholders as early as possible
but can be changed at any time in the project life cycle, subject to
approval through change control. In an iterative working environment,
the team may find it easier to respond to changing success criteria,
as they deliver and regularly test outputs with end users, allowing for
gradual learning and adaptation.

The degree of achievement of project management success criteria

will be known at project handover, and accountability for achieving the
project success criteria rests with the project manager. Benefits are
often realised sometime after transition into use, hence accountability
for benefits realisation rests with the sponsor.
2.2 Planning for success
Section 2.1 identified the high-level expressions of stakeholder vision.
It is now necessary to consider just how that need is likely to be
delivered through to a detailed statement of work for the chosen
solution. This continuation of the journey involves a number of steps of
refinement: exploring objectives, detailed requirements, success
criteria, measurable benefits, best value options, scope definition and
acceptance criteria for each element of that scope. This work builds
a firm foundation for detailed planning.
The linear progression from high-level expressions of need and
benefit in an early business case through to the specification of
detailed requirements, scope and acceptance criteria is well
understood. For many projects, this remains a value-creating
process, especially for large-scale, highly technical projects, where
rework is expensive and does not justify an iterative approach.

The emergence and growing popularity of iterative approaches

requires project managers to think about defining outputs in a
different, more adaptive way. The danger, however, is to assume that
the approaches designed to build in agility and flexibility do not
require the discipline to define some things clearly, for example,
benefits that justify the investment or the acceptance criteria for
deliverables.

Taking forward the definition of outputs into detailed planning requires

a focus on multiple areas, the success of which is dependent on the
integration of those areas into the baseline project management plan.
Depending on particular project objectives and the life cycle chosen,
different approaches to planning time, resources and cost, in the
context of risk, can be adopted.

Stakeholders, those individuals or groups who have an interest or role

in the project, programme or portfolio, or are impacted by it, cannot
by definition be ‘managed’. Rather, depending on their stake, and the
role that they will ideally play, the people involved in the work, from
sponsor to team member, are part of the effort to keep the
stakeholder appropriately engaged and influenced to do the right
things. This is not an easy task and benefits from a facilitative
approach rather than assuming that ‘command-and-control’
approaches will be effective.

This section continues the learning journey and includes:

2.2.1 Stakeholder engagement

2.2.2 Communication
2.2.3 Risk management
2.2.4 Quality management
2.2.5 Scope management

2.2.1 Stakeholder engagement

Learning objectives
This section considers those who ultimately will be key to the
project’s success: stakeholders. Without the effective engagement of
stakeholders there is a risk that the project will not meet its success
criteria.

By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:

Learning outcome Assessment criteria

4. Understand project 4.6 Explain how a stakeholder analysis supports
management planning effective stakeholder engagement

Stakeholders are people, groups or institutions with interests in a

programme or project. Primary stakeholders are immediate
communities of interest; often they will be described as internal
stakeholders, particularly if they are involved directly with the
implementation of the project. Secondary stakeholders (usually
external stakeholders) are the intermediaries in the process, and may
include government agencies and other institutional bodies.

Groups or individuals closest to the project may not actually think of

themselves as stakeholders, because they feel they own the
management processes, for example, the project manager and team.
A rule of thumb for ensuring that key stakeholders have been included
in the process is to question whose support or lack of it might
significantly influence the success of the project. This is a particularly
good test where groups claim to speak for a wider representation
than may be the case, and whose capacity to articulate their
concerns might easily cause other groups to be overlooked.

Stakeholder analysis supporting effective stakeholder

engagement
If our ultimate goal is stakeholder engagement, we first need to look
at each stakeholder and their relationship to the project. Different
types of relationships need different kinds of approaches; some need
more activity than others. Similarly, stakeholders can be quite
specific, for example, as individuals or geographically identifiable
groups of people, while others are more difficult to define and we
have to think more laterally about how we are going to establish and
maintain a relationship with them.

Stakeholder analysis starts with the identification of a project’s key

stakeholders, and assessing their interests in the project and the
ways in which those interests affect project risks and viability. It
contributes to project design by identifying the goals and roles of
different groups, and by helping to formulate appropriate forms of
engagement with these groups. Developing a sound stakeholder
environment means understanding the needs of stakeholders, both
perceived and in reality. A typical approach could include:

■ understanding the roles of the various stakeholders, and how this

information may be used as an opportunity to improve both the
perception and reception of the project;
■ identifying the real nature of each stakeholder group’s business and
their consequent interest in the project;
■ understanding stakeholders’ behaviours and motivations towards
the project;
■ assessing how stakeholders may react to various approaches and
methods of communication;
■ identifying the characteristics of the stakeholders’ environments and
developing appropriate responses to facilitate a good relationship;
■ responding to the stakeholders’ motivations in relation to the
project;
■ determining the key areas that will have the most impact on the
successful reception of the project.

Ultimately project management must take into consideration all

parties whose actions may change the course of the project. The
objectives of these stakeholders involved in a project are unlikely to
be congruent, for example, the aim of the sponsoring organisation is
to minimise the cost of the project and that of the delivery contractor
is to maximise profit. Project managers should be aware of all
stakeholders and their likely objectives. They will find it difficult to
please all of them because the objectives are often in conflict.
Political skill will be a useful attribute to assure maximum satisfaction
among the stakeholders.

Environmental groups are perhaps a good example of stakeholders

who often have a direct and categoric opposition to the project,
regardless of how it is eventually implemented. For example, the
decision whether to build Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport, London,
was held up for more than 10 years by stakeholders influencing one
of the most complex public inquiries ever mounted in Britain.

Having identified the various stakeholders, each may be assigned to a

category according to their relative ability to influence the project and
the level of power they are thought to have. Figure 2.2.1.1 shows a
typical power–interest matrix used to position stakeholders
accordingly. Three distinct tasks are envisaged, namely:

■ identification and mapping of relevant stakeholders;

■ analysis of their interests in and relative power over the project or
programme;
■ development of an outline action plan defining how each
stakeholder group will be managed throughout the life cycle of the
project and the likelihood of them supporting the project.

Figure 2.2.1.1 An approach to capturing analysis of stakeholders

Power is a factor that is related to influence. Each stakeholder is

analysed as to their degree of importance according to their level of
power and therefore their ability to influence the project. Appropriate
members of the project team can then prioritise their efforts
accordingly to maintain the necessary stakeholder engagement, thus
giving rise to the best chances of ultimate project success. If the
project is large enough, or the stakeholder linkages are sufficiently
intense, the project team’s stakeholder engagement efforts may be
assigned to a specific group within the project team. Assignments of
this kind would be fully recorded in the project’s communication plan.
This plan will assign specific responsibilities to those who will conduct
communication, and describe the overall engagement strategy of how
information about the project will be conveyed to those who need that
information, who could be external stakeholders, such as the general
public, for example.

Carrying out such an in-depth analysis of stakeholders will consume

resources, and so to justify this consumption the project manager
must acknowledge the importance of managing stakeholder
expectations and how they will influence overall success of the
project, particularly in the areas described below.
Improved communications planning
Not everybody needs to know everything, but everybody needs to
know something. The results of the analysis will define the key
communication requirements. These requirements are essential to
assure effective engagement. This is especially true if the key
interests of the stakeholders have been gathered in terms of time,
cost, quality, scope and benefits. Not only can the appropriate level of
information be ascertained but also where the information will come
from and how it will be transmitted.

Ensuring a productive team is formed

Knowing which is the most appropriate engagement strategy to adopt
for stakeholders, either partnering, being consultative, needing to be
involved or simply kept informed, will help to define whether or not
they need a place on the team. The outputs of the analysis should
indicate which stakeholder relationships might be most productive for
the project being considered. Those seen as partners may play a key
role as suppliers and members of the steering group, depending on
their interests and level of seniority. Engagement strategies for
stakeholders in other areas may ultimately encourage them to be
partners too. Similarly, if there are many stakeholder groups that
need to be consulted this may mean that a team needs to be formed
to complete these activities.

Enabling effective engagement actions to be initiated

Once identified, it is possible to apply a further analysis to the
stakeholders to develop an engagement strategy for dealing with
them. Effective engagement requires the project team to focus on
understanding stakeholder perspectives and to address these in
order to achieve the intended outcomes. Putting in effort to explore
stakeholder points of view has the dual benefit of building
understanding of the issues and building relationships.

Increased likelihood of project being accepted

There are stakeholders who are important, particularly when the
project reaches the handover, as they will decide whether the output
should be accepted or not. Identifying these stakeholders from the
outset and fulfilling their needs will be a big step in ensuring
stakeholder satisfaction is sufficient to warrant the product being
accepted into the operational environment.

2.2.2 Communication

Learning objectives
This section considers how communication should be conducted if the
project is to successfully take account of stakeholders’ requirements.
There are different communication methods to be considered and
documented in a communication plan for the project.

By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:

Learning outcome Assessment criteria

9. Understand 9.1 Define the term ‘communication’
communication in the
context of a project
9.2 Outline the advantages of different communication
methods (including face-to-face, physical and virtual)
9.3 Outline the disadvantages of different communication
methods (including face-to-face, physical and virtual)
9.4 Outline the contents of a communication plan
9.5 Explain the benefits, to a project manager, of a
communication plan

The term ‘communication’

Communication is the process of exchanging information and
confirming there is shared understanding. The ability to communicate
is a core skill for people working in projects to ensure objectives and
requirements are understood, plans and benefits are shared,
stakeholders are aligned, teams are motivated and knowledge is
embedded.

Advantages and disadvantages of different

communication methods
Communication takes many forms and effective communicators
consider not only the message they want to pass on, but also the
method (medium) for communicating the message. Decisions about
communication methods are made in the context of the target
audience, the intended impact and the risks/potential unintended
consequences of the approach.

Many factors affect the success of communication, from cultural

influences to the ‘mood’ in the team to the method of communication
chosen and the language used. Project professionals can choose to
use written words and symbols, voice and non-verbal signals
(including body language) when communicating. In ‘face-to-face’
communication (including video and vlogs), non-verbal communication
can have more of an impact than the words used, so being able to
control non-verbal signals and create a coherent message are vital.

Where face-to-face communication is not possible there are

advantages and disadvantages. For example, it can be advantageous
to be on a conference call if the group is working through feedback in
a document as more focus can be given to the words used and the
format of the written information without worrying about visual clues.
A disadvantage is that virtual communication runs the risk of the
sentiment underpinning what is said being misunderstood.

Physical (non-verbal) communication includes facial expressions, the

tone and pitch of the voice and gestures displayed through body
language. Symbols, signs and gestures can also be considered as
physical communication skills. An advantage of physical
communication is that important communication messages can be
emphasised by aspects such as facial expressions and the variations
in the tone and pitch of the voice. A disadvantage of this type of
communication is that the recipient may misinterpret the
communication clues leading to the wrong message being conveyed.
Different cultures also have different ways of interpreting physical
communication. There have been a number of cases where a
communication sign has been used to convey a positive message only
to be received by different culture as a grave insult. Care should be
taken to fully understand the extent of use of physical communication
and ensuring that the message conveyed is in fact the message that
is most likely to be received.

If the project requires working with virtual teams there are particular
skills needed to ensure that communication between team members
is efficient and effective, for example, the ability to include everyone
who needs to be involved on a virtual call, simultaneously.

The contents of a communication plan

An effective communication plan will seek to form an engagement
strategy, as a result of suitable analysis, by answering some of the
following questions:

■ What particular message(s) should be communicated to this

particular stakeholder?
■ Who, in the project organisation, is best placed to carry out this
communication?
■ What form of message media or method will motivate this
stakeholder to engage the most?
■ When and how often should communication take place?
■ What form of feedback can be solicited or expected?
■ What barriers can be proactively identified and acted upon prior to
communication taking place?
■ Which stakeholders should/should not communicate with each
other?

The communication plan allows the essential interactions to take

place that are deemed necessary to motivate those stakeholders
whose support is needed to achieve the desired outcomes. Putting in
effort to analyse stakeholders’ points of view has the dual benefit of
building understanding of the issues and developing positive
relationships. Managing stakeholders’ influence relies on these
relationships being maintained and can only realistically be achieved
through having an effective communications plan.

Benefits, to a project manager, of a communication

plan
Effective communication plans include ways to receive feedback and
measure effectiveness so that plans can be adjusted to have
maximum impact. Taking the time to develop an effective
communication plan will yield the following benefits:

■ The most appropriate communication media is used – choosing the

most appropriate media for delivery of a message is vital to that
message being received and understood by stakeholders. The
communication plan will consider which media is best for which
situation and stakeholder. For example, avoiding over reliance on
electronic forms of communication, which can lead to
misunderstanding and conflict.
■ More focused communication to stakeholders – avoiding mass
communication, where receivers are swamped with information,
only some of which might be relevant to them. Instead,
communication messages are planned and tailored to convey the
communicator’s meaning as accurately as possible to the target
audience. Messages are then more likely to be read by the
intended recipients.
■ More consistent communication – when communication is planned
in advance all messages will be delivered using a framework that
has been agreed and approved. This could, for example, involve
the assigning of specific responsibilities for communication in the
project. The result being that stakeholders do not receive
conflicting messages from different areas of the project.
■ Communication can be systematically improved – by ensuring that
free flowing feedback channels are planned into the communication
structure, communication barriers can be identified allowing
improvement actions to be proactively taken to ensure that barriers
are eliminated and communication can be conducted more
effectively.
■ Greater adherence to the organisation’s governance and standards
– it is important to adhere to any protocols or standards for
communication that are developed in the organisation for effective
communication to take place. The communication plan will take
account of any ‘norms’ in the particular organisation and so
circumvent avoidable communication errors, potential conflict or
security breaches.

Understanding how communication can be affected by a range of

factors will ensure that the project manager seeks to proactively
manage these factors as much as possible prior to the
communication taking place. By doing this, the communication plan for
the project will increase the chances of achieving effective
engagement, which in turn improves the chance of achieving
objectives by having a positive influence on stakeholders’ behaviours.
Read about…
The world of project management

Nuclear decommissioning agent Sellafield Ltd has used effective

communication planning when communicating a positive message
to attract the best talent to fulfil their task to deal with the nuclear
waste fuel legacy – itself a 100-year decommissioning project in
Cumbria – but at the same time reduce Cumbria’s dependency on
Sellafield as the main employer for the area. Neil Crewdson, head
of project management and capabilities at Sellafield, comments on
how Honda have implemented a major plant shutdown in Swindon
and he draws parallels with Sellafield’s current task.

Reskill and invest

Neil says that a priority for the project managers handling the
closure is to rebuild some confidence in their mission of finishing
the production of the Honda Civic, and to see it out with pride.
“We did something similar,” he says. “A large part of Sellafield
was about reprocessing, and that’s been the business for the last
50 years. The first plant shut down last year, and we tried to instil
a sense of ‘finishing our mission with pride’.”

But, Crewdson says, “It is easier for us at Sellafield because, for

the next 10 to 20 years, we don’t foresee any redundancies. What
we do see is a massive reskilling and retraining programme, and
help finding employment and weaning the area off Sellafield.
When we’ve faced downturns, we’ve done recruitment days for all
large industries that want our skills.”

Sellafield expects gradual reduction in 20 years’ time and is

already investing in developing new facilities in the local
community to house and encourage new start-ups and
entrepreneurial businesses.

In terms of handling the media, Crewdson says Sellafield now

prefers to enlist the help of advocates – such as Sellafield’s
apprentices – to talk about the site, rather than using nuclear
 industry experts to get their messages across. “People don’t trust
people in white coats any more; they moved away from deferring
to experts.”

It also pays to be open in communicating with the national media.

“We really try to be very transparent,” Crewdson says.

Originally published in Project Summer 2019.

If you would like to read more about this example or other real-
world project examples, copies of APM’s Project journal can be
downloaded from the members’ resources area of the APM
website: apm.org.uk/project.

2.2.3 Risk and issue management

Learning objectives
This section examines two of the most misunderstood of all the
project management processes: risk management and issue
management. Understanding risk management means that the project
can exploit the existing opportunities to further optimise the project
schedule, budget and scope. Issues are events where, in effect, the
project is caught by surprise and needs to respond. Issues may not
be avoidable but what is important is that the process applied to deal
with such eventualities creates valuable lessons learned.

By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:

Learning outcome Assessment criteria

 7. Understand project risk and 7.1 Define the term ‘risk’
issue management in the
context of a project
7.2 Explain the purpose of risk management
7.3 Outline the stages of a typical risk management
process (including identification, analysis,
response and closure)
7.4 Describe the use of risk registers
7.5 Define the term ‘issue’
7.6 Outline the purpose of issue management
7.7 Differentiate between an issue and a risk
7.8 State the stages of an issue resolution process

The term ‘risk’

Risk is the potential of a situation or event to impact on the
achievement of specific objectives. It is the level of uncertainty that
exists. This is not a negative thing as long as the project is aware that
uncertainty exists and can proactively consider the best way to
respond to that uncertainty.

The purpose of risk management

Risk management is a process that allows individual risk events and
overall risk to be understood and managed proactively, optimising
success by minimising threats and maximising opportunities.

All projects are inherently risky because they are unique, constrained,
based on assumptions, performed by people and subject to external
influences. Risks can affect the achievement of objectives either
positively or negatively. Risk includes both opportunities and threats,
and both should be managed through the risk management process.

Risk management must be closely aligned to schedule management.

Cost, time and resource estimates should always take risks into
account. The project manager is accountable for ensuring that risk
management takes place. Depending on the size and complexity of
the project, a specialist risk manager may be appointed to oversee
and facilitate the risk management process.

A typical risk management process

It is important to note that the risk management process discussed
here is not applied to the management of general health and safety
risks, which are usually excluded from project risk management.
Management of these risks is traditionally handled separately through
the formation of a safety plan for the project often with the support of
the health and safety function within the organisation. The process of
project risk management will focus on individual project risks that,
should they occur, will affect the project’s objectives. The project
manager will also seek to understand the overall risk exposure of the
project, so that this can be reported to the project sponsor and other
stakeholders. A typical risk management process is illustrated in
Figure 2.2.3.1.

Figure 2.2.3.1 Risk management process and management products

The steps are as follows:

Initiate – The main purpose of this step is to ensure that there is a

common understanding of the project to which the risk management
process is to be applied. It is important that risk management is not
seen by the project team as a burdensome process that will ensure
every box is ticked. Instead, this step will make sure that the level of
process to be used fits the specific requirements of the project.

A key output from the initiation step is the risk management plan,
which details how risk will be managed throughout the life cycle. The
risk management plan will be an important reference for all
stakeholders who require an insight into the risk organisation and
control structure, and the specific responsibilities for risk
management. A number of appendices will also be included, such as
templates and proformas of the documents necessary to effectively
carry out the process. Part of the overall project management plan,
the risk management plan makes it quite clear how risk is going to be
tackled for the project. In many organisations it may be held as a
template in the standard project methodology, although the risk
management plan will always be specific to a particular project.

Identification – The objective of risk identification is to draw out all

knowable risks to project objectives. Risk identification is a creative,
divergent process that benefits from the input of a wide range of
people using a method that does not restrict or bias their thinking.
Working with stakeholders and the team to discuss risk is one area
that requires a facilitative approach and a means of providing neutral
challenges to address any bias. Workshops are often used for this
purpose, although alternative approaches that enable individuals to
contribute without any chance of group bias can be more useful.

To make sense of differing perceptions, it is important to describe

risk events clearly, separating causes (facts now or stable planning
assumptions), from risk events (situations that may occur), from
effects (that have an impact on one or more of the project specific
scales already defined). Once risks are identified they are
documented in the risk register.
It is also vital that the correct risk owner is defined for each risk event
at this stage in the risk management process. Risk owners are
individuals or groups who are best placed to assess and manage the
specific risk. Working with the risk owner, the project manager
ensures that risks are clearly described in the risk register before
moving on to the risk analysis step of the risk management process.

Analysis – The relative severity of identified risks is assessed using

qualitative techniques to gain understanding of their individual
significance and/or their combined impact on objectives. They can
then be prioritised for further attention. Risk owners will work with the
project team to carry out basic qualitative analysis as a minimum to
identify and prioritise risk events based on an assessment of the:

■ probability/likelihood of occurrence; and

■ size of impact on schedule, cost, benefits and potentially other
objectives.

Response – The risk owner uses information collected during risk

identification and risk analysis to advise the project manager whether
it makes sense to proactively invest previously unplanned time and
money to bring the exposure to risk within acceptable levels. The
decision of when to take the risk or invest in increasing certainty is
influenced by the appetite for risk of the sponsor and ultimately the
investing organisation.

If there is a justification for investing time and money proactively to

increase certainty, the project manager makes provision to implement
the planned responses (time, resource, cost) and updates the
integrated project plan (deployment baseline) accordingly.

Closure – The final part of the management process is to ensure that

all risks are closed when they have occurred, been successfully
mitigated, accepted or that there is no longer a possibility of them
occurring. At this stage it is useful to document information about the
risk being closed, for example, any updated risk information, closure
rationale and lessons learned. There are valuable benefits in fully
understanding a risk, the approach to analysis, how it was mitigated
or what conditions have been met when closing a risk, for future
reference.

At project closure if there are any open risks remaining, the project
manager must ensure that these are communicated to those involved
in the adoption phase.

The use of risk registers

A risk register is a document listing identified risk events and their
corresponding planned responses. The term ‘risk log’ is also used to
describe such a document. It provides a standard format in which to
record risk information. As a minimum, for each risk this information is
likely to include the description, causes, probability, impact, mitigation
actions, fallbacks, status and the names of individuals with
responsibility for the risk’s management. Depending on the risk
management techniques selected, other data are also likely to be
maintained, as appropriate.

Although a risk register can be maintained manually, most projects

are likely to use spreadsheet software for this purpose. Such
spreadsheets may be designed for a stand-alone PC or for
concurrent use by users linked through a network.

The term ‘issue’

An issue is a problem that is now breaching, or is about to breach,
delegated tolerances for work on a project or programme. These
tolerances represent the degree of variability that the project sponsor
is willing to accept with regard to the project’s performance in
reaching its time, cost and quality objectives. Issues require support
from the sponsor to agree a resolution. Issues are differentiated from
problems that may be escalated from the team to the project
manager and dealt with on a day-to-day basis. It is possible that
these problems could in fact be issues and require onward escalation
to the sponsor, but such an eventuality should be considered rare.

The purpose of issue management

The purpose of issue management is to provide a common process
that can be used to identify and document those issues that have
occurred and apply an appropriate resolution plan. Issue
management plays an important role in maintaining project stability
and efficiency throughout the deployment of the project. At the end of
the project the information documented from the issue register will be
used to provide valuable lessons learned when planning future
projects.

Differentiating between an issue and risk

There is often a tendency to mix up the identification, analysis and
management of risks with issues. They are related but are not the
same thing. Issues may develop when particular risks or groups of
risks actually occur and the mitigation actions that have been put in
place to deal with these risks are insufficient to such a degree that it
requires escalation to the next level of management for resolution. If
risks occur and the contingencies that have been reserved are
consumed to the expected degree, then that is not an issue. Issues
that are happening may also be causes of new risks, or result in the
assessment of risk likelihood and/or size of impact to change. It is
understandable that a project manager might prioritise the
management of issues (problems now) over the management of risks
(potential problems or opportunities), but a project where this is
continually the case would suggest an underlying concern with project
plans and controls.

The stages of an issue resolution process

The process used to resolve issues ensures that:
■ When an issue is identified it is logged in an issue register/log and
analysis is performed quickly to understand the nature of the issue,
its causes and impacts if it is not resolved. The prioritisation of
issues is based on the impact on success criteria and benefits for
the work, taking into account the relative priorities of scope, quality,
time, cost and benefits in the business case.
■ Issues are escalated to the sponsor, who may, in turn, escalate
them to the governance board for resolution.
■ Actions are assigned to the person or group who is best placed to
address the issue and identify and implement a resolution in a
timely manner.
■ Issues that result in changes to scope or any other part of the
baseline plan are progressed through change control. As part of
integrated planning, the limits of delegated authority are
established and formal change control is required when these
tolerances are breached.
■ The management of issues is tracked from identification through to
resolution, including any change control and replanning of the
deployment baseline and project management plan.
Read about…
The world of project management

One of the benefits of risk management is that it actually

facilitates greater risk taking. Calculated risk taking has always
been the basis for success. This has to be, of course, within the
bounds of applying formal risk management techniques, with
appropriate mitigation and fallback plans. Another aspect of risk
taking is risk appetite – how much risk investors are willing to
tolerate in achieving their objectives. Pamela Stacey explains a
little more of her experiences at HS2, the planned high speed rail
route in the UK.

What’s your appetite for risk?

How often does your project team, or its sponsors, actively
discuss risk appetite? “Understanding what risks can and can’t be
taken, and for what rewards, ought to be a much bigger part of
project planning,” says Pamela Stacey, head of programme and
corporate assurance for HS2. “It’s a guiding principle. At HS2,
safety is our number-one concern – and people might say that
makes our risk appetite too low. But it needs to be that way to
avoid other priorities displacing it at any point.”

The other misconception she has come across is confusion

between ‘risks’ and ‘issues’. “The difference is things in the future
versus things now,” she explains. “People on a project often prefer
to address what they can see happening. It feels tangible, and a
solution can be found. But they forget that an issue cropping up is
just a risk that has crystallised.”

Her prescription? Look at what the immediate issues tell you

about how risks are developing and might surface in the future. “If
you don’t have that analysis, you’ll struggle to update your risk
profile thoroughly. Issues tell stories.”

Stacey, who also sits on the committee of APM’s Assurance

Specific Interest Group, adds: “If you’re focused on the next
 milestone or stage gate, you might stop looking forward at risks
that could emerge later – or the overall project outcomes.” So,
look beyond a post project ‘lessons learned’ process – and adapt
dynamically to the way risk evolves.

Originally published in Project Autumn 2019.

If you would like to read more about this example or other real-
world project examples, copies of APM’s Project journal can be
downloaded from the members’ resources area of the APM
website: apm.org.uk/project.

2.2.4 Quality management

Learning objectives
This section considers the processes necessary to ensure that
outputs are delivered in accordance with requirements and have the
highest chance of being accepted at the point of final delivery. If the
project’s stakeholders are satisfied with the results of the project, the
project has met its quality criteria.

By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:

Learning outcome Assessment criteria

8. Understand quality in the 8.1 Define the term ‘quality’
context of a project
8.2 Outline the purpose of quality management
8.3 Define the term ‘quality planning’
8.4 Define the term ‘quality control’
 8.5 Outline the purpose of quality assurance
8.6 State the purpose of: decision gates, post project
reviews, benefit reviews and project audits

The term ‘quality’

Quality is defined as the fitness for purpose or the degree of
conformance of the outputs of a process, or the process itself, to
requirements.

The purpose of quality management

Quality management is a discipline for ensuring the outputs and
benefits, and the processes by which they are delivered, meet
stakeholder requirements and are fit for purpose. Project quality
management includes the processes required to ensure that the
project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken. The project
quality management system includes all activities of the overall
management function that assigns responsibilities for quality and
determine the quality objectives, and implements them by means such
as quality planning, quality assurance, quality control and continual
improvement.

Project quality management must address both the management of

the project and the outputs of the project. Failure to meet quality
requirements in either dimension can have serious negative effects for
some or all of the project stakeholders.

The term ‘quality planning’

The starting point for establishing quality in the project is quality
planning, which takes the defined scope of the project (or the next
phase or time period in an iterative life cycle) and specifies the
criteria to be used to validate that the outputs are fit for purpose and
acceptable to the sponsor.
As a result of quality planning, the quality plan will be created and is
agreed with the sponsor and wider governance board as a key part
of the overall project management plan. The quality plan sets out the
desired attributes of work in scope and how these are to be
assessed. To do this, it references applicable regulations, standards,
specifications and, in some cases, values of the investing
organisation. Most importantly the quality plan will note the agreed
acceptance criteria, in order to provide guidance to the team about
the requirements and essential conditions for the deliverable that they
are working on. They also guide the planning of quality control and
other assurance activities that are performed to check that outputs
meet requirements. It is important to do this after scope definition and
before any further planning is carried out, as quality control and
assurance activities take time and consume resources that need to
be scheduled and costed.

The quality plan documents:

■ methods of verifying that the outputs meet requirements;

■ pass/fail criteria for each method;
■ frequency of the tests, checks or audits that will be carried out;
■ requirements for resources needed, for example, particular test
equipment, suitably qualified and experienced staff who may be
provided by the delivery organisation or a part of the supply chain,
stakeholder approvals.

Obtaining stakeholder agreement facilitates the handover of the

project’s outputs on completion, and planning early how this will be
done is a key success factor for project management.

The term ‘quality control’

Quality control consists of inspection, measurement and testing to
verify that the project outputs meet the acceptance criteria defined
during quality planning. Quality control is focused on preventing
problems being passed on to the internal or external customer. For
quality control to be effective, change control of specifications and
test plans are vital so that any modifications are formally authorised,
coordinated and communicated.

As part of quality planning, test plans for quality control will have been
agreed. These include aspects such as:

■ sample size of tests, for example, the whole item or a percentage

chosen at random;
■ test protocols, including resources required – people, equipment –
third-party expertise or facilities;
■ independent performance and/or witness testing by a regulator or
process owner from business-as-usual.

There are many project scenarios where the project outputs are
highly complex and technical, and where the work to verify
conformance of outputs to specifications is extensive. Testing is well
established and understood in these scenarios. It is easy to overlook
that all projects need to deliver outputs that are fit for purpose and
therefore enable the outcomes to be achieved. Quality control applies
equally to interim or final outputs such as reports, processes,
communication materials or financial models.

In all quality control activities, decisions need to be made about the

degree of conformance of the output (or sample of outputs) tested to
the specification and acceptance criteria, and what action to take in
the event of non-conformance. Quality control is the least flexible of
the processes as the result is pass or fail, whereas with quality
assurance the processes could be followed to a degree and still
deliver an acceptable output.

Projects deliver a huge variety of outputs and are consequently

subject to many forms of quality control depending on the technical
nature of the work and the particular requirements of individual
industries. The quality control regime for the project is established by
the project manager drawing on input from relevant technical experts
rather than by reference to generic processes.

The purpose of quality assurance

The purpose of quality assurance is to create a process for
evaluating overall project performance on a regular basis to provide
confidence that the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards.
It is a complementary practice, alongside quality planning and control,
to assure that project outputs meet requirements.

Quality assurance attempts to build in quality through the consistent

use of standard processes and procedures, supported by training
and feedback. Quality assurance answers one important question: is
the project actually following the processes and procedures as set
out in the quality plan? There is no point in consuming resources to
form a plan if the project then follows a different route. Quality
assurance is always performed through an independent audit, either
external to the organisation or at least external to the project.

A summary view of how the main quality processes interact is shown

in Figure 2.2.4.1.
Figure 2.2.4.1 Quality management as implemented within the project

The purpose of: decision gates, post project reviews,

benefit reviews and project audits
A review is a critical evaluation of a deliverable, business case or
project management process. Reviews are one of the principle
mechanisms by which the quality of deliverables, performance of the
management process and the ongoing viability of the work are
assured.

Decision gates
The purpose of decision gates is to review and confirm viability of the
work across the chosen life cycle. In a linear life cycle, decision gates
are event driven, at the end of a phase of work. In the case of an
iterative life cycle, they are time bound. Many projects or
programmes adopt a hybrid life cycle with a combination of main
decision gates at the end of major phases of work, supplemented by
interim review points to reflect the iterative nature of the
development.

In all cases, the sponsor and the wider governance board are
accountable for the decision to continue the work. Reviews in
advance of decision gates ask four key questions:

■ What has been achieved?

■ What is required for the next stage?
■ What are the key decisions to be made?
■ Is the business case still viable, i.e. can the desired benefits be
achieved for an acceptable level of cost and risk?

Within a stand-alone project, the decision gate is dealing only with the
continued viability of that project’s business case. In programmes and
portfolios, decisions will include whether to rephase or terminate
existing, or initiate new, projects. Between decision gates, the
sponsor is accountable for ensuring authorities are in place to prevent
the team working out of compliance and at risk. Decision gates may
also be used to request relevant authorities, such as a financial or
procurement authority.

Post project review

The project manager is responsible for arranging a post project
review (PPR) that will take place shortly after the project is formally
completed (end of transition phase). If the project is terminated early,
the PPR will be then be conducted at the point of termination. The
prime objective of the PPR is to learn lessons that may be
appropriate to recommend improvements to other project
management teams. A review document will be produced to describe
the impact of approved changes on the project management plan,
any benefits that can be assessed at this time and confirm that the
quality of work done during the project meets the quality expectations
of the customer and is most likely to be accepted.

All recommendations must be sufficiently robust for the organisation

to be able to act upon them. Importantly, both project management
and supporting business operations should be included in
recommendations for incorporating in the organisation’s guidelines for
developing good practice for the planning and deployment of future
projects.

Benefit reviews
A benefit (realisation) review is carried out during benefits realisation
and is a formal review of a programme or project, typically conducted
6–12 months after handover and commissioning of the deliverables.
These reviews may be repeated throughout the operational life of the
product. This review is used to answer the question: Did we achieve
what we set out to do, in business terms and if not, what should be
done? For a construction, development or procurement project, a
review is undertaken when there has been time to demonstrate the
business benefits of a new service or building. For a major
programme of change there will be several reviews over time. A
benefits realisation review is an essential component of the benefits
management process. It checks whether benefits, including those set
out in the business case have been achieved and identifies
opportunities for further improvement.

Audit
Normally undertaken by an independent body, which may be internal
or external to the organisation but independent from the project. An
audit’s objective is to provide assurance to the sponsor that the
project is being managed using the agreed governance and process.
Audits can be undertaken by a project management office, should
one exist, and they form the foundation of assurance, providing
confidence to stakeholders that projects will achieve their objectives
and realise their benefits.
2.2.5 Scope management

Learning objectives
This section considers how the translation of requirements into
outputs for the chosen solution is achieved. There are a number of
structures used that act as communication devices that allow a
common perspective of the project to be gained by all interested
stakeholders.
By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:

Learning Assessment criteria

outcome
5. Understand 5.1 Define the term ‘scope management’
project scope
management
5.2 Differentiate between scope management within linear projects
and scope management within iterative projects
5.3 Describe how product breakdown structures (PBS) and work
breakdown structures (WBS) are used to illustrate the required
scope of work
5.4 Outline how a project manager would use cost breakdown
structures (CBS), organisational breakdown structures (OBS)
and the responsibility assignment matrix (RAM)
5.5 Define the terms ‘configuration management’ and ‘change
control’ in the context of scope management
5.6 Explain the relationship between change control and
configuration management
5.7 Outline the stages in a typical change control process$
5.8 Outline the activities in a typical configuration management
process (including planning, identification, control, status
accounting and verification audit)

The term ‘scope management’

‘Scope’ is the term used in the management of projects to refer to the
totality of the outputs, outcomes and benefits, and the work required
to produce them. Outputs (deliverables) are the tangible or intangible
products typically delivered by a project. Outcomes are the changed
circumstances or behaviour that results from the use of an output and
leads to realisation of benefits. Scope management is the process
whereby outputs, outcomes and benefits are identified, defined and
controlled. A high-level scope is typically recorded in the business
case in support of the chosen option and its investment appraisal.
Scope management within linear and iterative projects
In projects with a linear life cycle, the baseline scope of work is
defined through a breakdown structure to define the activities that will
be scheduled and resourced to meet all the requirements and
benefits. Scope definition in linear life cycle projects is assumed to be
fixed. The time, cost and quality necessary to meet that scope is
established in the remainder of the project planning process.

In projects using an iterative life cycle, it is equally important to

structure the scope of work and record the assumptions. The
difference in this scenario is that the ‘must-have’ requirements are
prioritised in user stories and these are translated into a target scope
of work to be achieved within a fixed time window with defined
resources. Subsequent iterations may alter the scope based on
accumulated experience, acquired insights and emerging priorities.

Using product breakdown structures (PBS) and work

breakdown structures (WBS) to illustrate the required
scope of work
The detailed scope of work emerges from the decomposition of the
chosen option to meet the sponsor’s requirements. Once a solution
has been identified that meets the requirements, the scope of the
work can be illustrated using a product breakdown structure (PBS).
Identifying both products and the work involved in building them is an
iterative activity. Where uncertainty about the end products exists,
provision must be made for revisiting the PBS and the resultant work
breakdown structure (WBS) during the project life cycle. The PBS is
a hierarchical structure where the main output of the project is placed
at the top level. The next level down shows the components that
make up the higher level. This process continues to the level of
individual products. Each product will have defined acceptance
criteria and quality control methods.
For example, if an organisation wanted to organise an international
conference in order to market its products to new markets overseas,
the initial PBS might look like the example shown in Figure 2.2.5.1.
The PBS shows what will be delivered. There is no detail provided,
as yet, about the actual work required to complete these
deliverables.

Figure 2.2.5.1 Example PBS for an international conference

Once the exercise of producing the PBS is complete it can then be

used to do initial scope verification to obtain stakeholders’ agreement
that the products identified are what they expect the project to deliver
and get a firm agreement to that effect. At this stage it is hoped that
stakeholders would also advise on what products are in or out of
scope. Scope verification will continue, at various points, throughout
the project until the deliverables have been finally handed over and
formally accepted by stakeholders. Clearly defining what is in and out
of scope prevents the risk of misunderstandings at a later point in the
project that may lead to emerging issues and change requests.
Incomplete scope definition is a common cause of time delays, cost
growth and benefit reduction.

Following the categorisation of the project to create products, the

project manager is able to direct those products to the most suitable
technical resource for more detailed scope definition. This results in
the baseline scope of work to be defined through a WBS which will
detail the activities that will be scheduled and resourced to meet all
the requirements and benefits. The WBS derived from the example
PBS shown in Figure 2.2.5.1 is shown in Figure 2.2.5.2.

Figure 2.2.5.2 Example WBS structure derived directly from the PBS

At the lowest level of the WBS, work packages will exist that contain
the activities to be performed to allow estimating, scheduling and
resource assignments necessary to do the work and ultimately deliver
the output. Where the objective is well understood and has a tangible
output (e.g. in construction and engineering) it is usual to define the
scope as accurately as possible at the beginning of the life cycle.
Where the objective is less tangible, or subject to significant change,
e.g. business change or some IT systems, a more flexible or iterative
approach to scope is needed.

How a project manager would use cost breakdown

structures (CBS), organisational breakdown
structures (OBS) and the responsibility assignment
matrix (RAM)
In the WBS each work package will have a coded reference in order
to be tracked within the business management systems of the
organisation. Any estimated costs related to the delivery of that work
package, such as people, equipment, materials or any other resource
required, can then be recorded using this coding structure. The
resulting structure is the cost breakdown structure (CBS), a
hierarchical breakdown of a project into cost elements. The CBS
provides a financial view of the project and splits the project scope
into its individual cost components, which can be related back to the
original budget. The CBS will reflect the financial coding used for
project accounting and any booking codes associated with each
element of the project.

The work packages in the WBS are reviewed and decisions are
made about who in the project will take responsibility for carrying out
the work, supervising activity and reporting progress. The structure of
the project organisation is vitally important for the effective
performance of key activities and to support the efforts of the whole
project team. The organisation breakdown structure (OBS) describes
the structure of the project organisation required to complete the
work packages in the WBS. This is particularly useful when work will
be performed by business staff seconded to the project or by
specialist teams working on more than one project. It is also
important for individuals themselves to know where they are situated
in the structure and their reporting responsibilities.

The WBS and OBS can be used in a combined way to create a

communication device known as a responsibility assignment matrix
(RAM). This ensures that the people who are going to do the work
are fully aware of the work they have been assigned, together with
their position in the project organisation. The functional line managers
in the delivery organisation would also consult the RAM to confirm the
work that has been assigned to their people. There are resource
management systems that can allow the functional manager to
approve assignments depending on individual availability and
departmental workload. A common coding structure can be applied to
the RAM as shown in Figure 2.2.5.3.

Figure 2.2.5.3 Responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) showing RACI coding

When the RAM is coded in this way it can also be referred to as a

RACI matrix where:

(R) Responsible – conducts the actual work/owns the problem.

(A) Accountable – approves the completed work and is held fully

accountable for it.

(C) Consulted – included in decision-making, primary supportive role.

(I) Informed – kept informed of progress and results.

The RAM provides a clear and concise summary of tasks or

deliverables, the specific responsibilities defined within the project
procedures and the level of accountability or contribution expected
from named roles or individuals within the project.
The terms ‘configuration management’ and ‘change
control’ in the context of scope management
Configuration management encompasses the technical and
administrative activities concerned with the creation, maintenance,
controlled change and quality control of the scope of work. A
configuration is the functional and physical characteristics of the final
deliverable as defined in technical documents and achieved in the
execution of project management plans.

Change control is the process through which all requests to change

the approved baseline of a project, programme or portfolio are
captured, evaluated and then approved, rejected or deferred.

The relationship between change control and

configuration management
Configuration management is very closely aligned with change
control. There are two main points in the change control process
where configuration management will provide support. First, when a
change is being assessed, those who are responsible for making the
decision will depend on configuration management supplying the most
current versions of the plans, documents or specifications necessary
for assessment to take place. Status accounting will provide a record
showing how each document has changed and the status of the
current documentation being used. It will also show any
interdependencies between configuration items, an important aspect
when assessing any knock-on effects of change.

The second point of support will be when the decision has been taken
to implement a change. Once a change has been approved, all
related documentation must be updated to reflect the change. The
configuration record relating to all affected items will be updated
accordingly. If any new changes are now being requested,
configuration management will make sure that it is the updated
version of all documentation that is released for review. The status of
all previous versions will now be shown as superseded. Working
together, these two processes ensure that deliverables meet the
required specification, any changes are beneficial changes and there
is a complete audit trail for the development of each deliverable.
Figure 2.2.5.4 shows the flow through and relationship between these
two processes.

While the configuration is primarily concerned with the products of a

project or programme, it should also be applied to key management
documents. For example, documents such as the business case and
project management plan should be subject to version control and
audit to ensure that they are fit for purpose and all changes are
recorded.

As work is completed, responsibility for maintaining deliverables

passes to business-as-usual. The project or programme management
team is responsible for ensuring that configuration management
information is suitable for transfer to those who will be maintaining the
products long after the project or programme has been closed.

Stages in a typical change control process

Change requests may arise as a result of issues that relate to the
management of the work, or from external sources such as new
stakeholder requirements, new regulations or changes in the context
that result in the original plans being no longer viable.

Managing requests for change effectively is a proven success factor

in project management, the alternative being a potential escalation of
problems as changes are adopted without analysis of their impact on
other parts of the solution or deliverables. It is of particular
importance when the project is part of a larger programme or
portfolio because the consequential effects of unmanaged change
may be far reaching within the planned change environment and to
business-as-usual activities.
Managing change requests in a controlled way enables the sponsor
and other stakeholders to:

■ understand the implications of variations on the forecasted

outcomes of the work;
■ influence the decision of how to respond in the context of their
objectives and appetite for risk.

Figure 2.2.5.4 outlines the steps in a typical change control process.

In scenarios where change is implemented without formal
authorisation, the project manager adopts a retrospective process
which is often seen as unnecessary bureaucracy; however, this is
needed to enable realistic forecasts.
Figure 2.2.5.4 Stages in a typical change control process and relationship with configuration
management

In certain circumstances, it is appropriate to implement a change

freeze on a project where no further changes are considered, as to
do so would jeopardise the achievement of the project objectives. In
some industries, schedules of rates form the basis of pricing changes
in advance of implementation. This eliminates the need to negotiate a
price between contractor and client. Uncontrolled change in a
contractual environment often leads to claims that may have to be
settled in court.

Agile projects make change control an integral part of the

development process. Each development iteration starts with a
planning meeting that clarifies and prioritises the function addressed
in the iteration. Some of these features may be changes to existing
features but are considered alongside all the others.

Activities in a typical configuration management

process
At its simplest, configuration management involves version control of
documents and information, but the discipline of configuration
management is a more complex endeavour in projects where the
design of the solution is multifaceted, combining multiple technical
disciplines and a wide range of asset types. The PBS, along with
detailed descriptions of each product, becomes the project
configuration. Once this is baselined it is subject to formal change
control and configuration management.

The configuration management process shown in Figure 2.2.5.5

encompasses the following five activities:

Configuration management planning – A configuration

management plan describes any project specific procedures and the
extent of their application. The plan also identifies roles and
responsibilities for carrying out configuration management. The
configuration management plan will often form part of the quality
management plan but may be separate in large or complex projects.

Configuration identification – This involves breaking down the

project into configuration items, and creating a unique numbering or
referencing system for each type of item. For each item a
configuration record is created that will record the current version and
subsequent changes to the item.
Configuration control – Ensures that all changes to configuration
items are controlled. As the previous step makes clear it is important
to identify the interrelationships between configuration items to enable
this.

Configuration status accounting – Provides records and reports

that relate to a deliverable and its configuration information. It enables
traceability of configuration items throughout their development. Users
can consult the configuration record, which will provide an updated
account of the status of the item, showing all changes to the current
reference point, when these changes were made and who has taken
responsibility for creating the latest version.

Configuration verification audit – Is used to determine whether a

deliverable conforms to its requirements and configuration
information. At a minimum, a verification audit is undertaken at the
end of a life cycle phase, when a deliverable is finished or at the point
of transitioning the output into use. However, audits could be carried
out throughout the life cycle during change control to ensure
management products are being used in line with their current
configuration status.

Figure 2.2.5.5 Activities involved in configuration management of an output

The key output of a well-controlled configuration management
process is:

■ confidence that the current version of any configuration item is

known, be that a document, drawing, software or any other asset;
and
■ that documented traceability exists between versions of each
configuration item.
2.3 Achieving results
The results achieved will be proportional to the amount of upfront
work, described in this section and the previous section. Success
involves controlling deployment and ensuring that there is good
information about progress and performance. This informs correct
action and decision-making to ensure that the business case is
delivered as well as possible. It is also about rigour in the areas
studied up to this point – such as issue management, change control,
configuration management and quality control – to ensure that good
work put into early life cycle planning is not squandered by a lack of
attention to detail in implementation.

Controlling deployment requires a detailed focus on monitoring and

reporting as well as a commitment to manage risk, issues and
change/variations in a disciplined way. The imperative to provide audit
trails for assurance, and the opportunity for individual team members
and the wider organisations involved to reflect, learn and improve, is
an organisational reality for all who work in a competitive
environment.

In the final analysis, people deliver projects and strong relationships

with people underpin the administrative and bureaucratic disciplines
required during deployment. Ultimately, engaging and influencing
stakeholders, forming, building and leading teams, and the generic
skills and responsibilities of being a project professional are
addressed with the objective of making it clear that all project-based
work relies fundamentally on the ability of people to work together.

Groups of people with a common aim are called a ‘team’ on the

assumption that the people will not only cooperate with each other
but also collaborate to innovate and perform. Effective project-based
working relies on effective teamwork, often carried out in a context
where teams are temporary, multidisciplinary and, occasionally, also
geographically dispersed. Leading a group of people so they can
become a high-performing team is skilled work and some would
argue that it is the most important skill that a project professional
needs to develop.

This final section of your learning journey includes:

2.3.1 Estimating
2.3.2 Resource scheduling and optimisation
2.3.3 Information management and reporting
2.3.4 Leadership and teamwork

2.3.1 Estimating

Learning objectives
This section considers how once the scope of work has been defined
a prediction of time and resources required to complete that scope
will require to be established.

By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:

Learning outcome Assessment criteria

4. Understand project 4.8 State typical estimating methods (including
management planning analytical, analogous, parametric)
4.9 Outline the purpose of the estimating funnel

Typical estimating methods

There is a choice of methods to produce an estimate. The actual
method adopted will depend on the point in the life cycle where the
estimate is being carried out, the time available and the amount of
detailed information that exists concerning scope and working
approaches.

Analytical
When the detailed scope of the project has been defined, usually
through the formation of a work breakdown structure (WBS), detailed
estimates can be produced for labour and non-labour resources to
complete the activities in scope. This is often referred to as a bottom-
up method, in that the task of producing the estimates will be
delegated to those who are actually going to deliver the individual
pieces of work or work packages. Their individual estimates are then
summed from the bottom of the WBS to the top. For this estimating
method to be valid, the WBS needs to be representative of the work
that will eventually be carried out and so a verified WBS is essential
to the accuracy of the final estimate. Analytical estimating can only be
used to produce a cost estimate and not an estimate of duration.
Summing the estimated durations from the bottom of the WBS to the
top would not take account of work packages that will be conducted
at the same time as others.

Analogous
This method is dependent on data being available about a similar
project to the one being estimated. If the historic project was the
same size, similar complexity and the method by which the new
project is being delivered will be the same, then it is accepted that the
cost of the previous project becomes the new estimate. It is possible
to factor this estimate to take account of known variables, for
example, by adding 10 per cent to cover the known increases in
material costs. When this estimate is produced at the start of the
concept phase, it is often referred to as an order of magnitude
estimate. To carry out this type of estimate the data on previous
projects needs to be readily available. It is common that this estimate
will provide the basis for the decision to proceed with the project.

Parametric
This estimating method uses a statistical relationship between historic
data and other variables to calculate an estimate. The specifications
of each deliverable are established together with the particular
parameters that apply, for example, length of pipe, square footage of
floor space or height of wall. Applied to these parameters would be
unit rates that are either gained through experience of doing the work
previously or using rates that are produced by technical publishers as
price books or books of norms. Parametric estimating can be one of
the most accurate techniques for determining a project’s duration and
cost, provided the scope being estimated accurately represents the
expected final requirements. When applying published data, care is
required to ensure that the actual conditions of the work being
estimated are similar to the conditions that have created the norms
and take account of skill levels, lost time factors and any physical
aspects such as inclement weather.

The purpose of the estimating funnel

As the project progresses project uncertainty will decline and, as a
result, a different estimating method can be applied to verify previous
estimates. This increase in accuracy from concept through to
implementation is often termed the estimating funnel. Note that as
accuracy increases the level of contingency should decrease.

In the example shown in Figure 2.3.1.1, analogous estimates are first

applied based on information available about prior projects. Whatever
the source of the data, at this point in the life cycle the estimates
produced have relatively broad ranges. During definition it is likely that
a WBS is available and as verification takes place the duration/work
estimating can be carried out for individual assignments. Using work
packages improves the estimate accuracy and team member
commitment. The overall estimate range has now reduced. During
deployment the level of detail at this phase will allow parametric
estimating, using either published rates or historic data from the
organisation’s own experience.
Figure 2.3.1.1 Estimating funnel showing factors that will influence the accuracy of the
estimate
2.3.2 Resource scheduling and optimisation

Learning objectives
This section considers the time schedule and considers techniques
used to develop and present schedules that show when work within a
project is planned to be performed. A project schedule can reside
within a programme or portfolio schedule and have dependencies on
the completion of other projects.
By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:

Learning outcome Assessment criteria

6. Understand resource 6.1 State the purpose of scheduling
scheduling and optimisation in
a project
6.2 State the purpose of critical path analysis
6.3 State the purpose of milestones
6.4 Define the term ‘time boxing’
6.5 Outline options for resource optimisation
(including resource levelling and resource
smoothing)
6.6 Define the term ‘procurement strategy’

The purpose of scheduling

A schedule is a timetable showing the forecast duration and the start
and finish dates for activities or events within a project. Start and
finish dates can be calculated with regard to available resources and
external constraints as well as project logic. Once established, the
schedule will be used throughout the project to:

■ update progress, forecast performance and communicate this

information to stakeholders;
■ show team members when tasks are due to be completed and the
overall project duration;
■ show key milestones and progress towards achievement of these
when work starts.

Within a large project, there can be a number of individual schedules

to deal with different aspects of the project. The master schedule
combines, coordinates and keeps track of all subordinate schedules
within the overall project scope.
The purpose of critical path analysis
Critical path analysis uses a scheduling technique to predict project
duration by analysing which sequence of activities has the least
amount of scheduling flexibility and are, therefore, critical if the
planned overall duration is to be achieved. The critical path shows the
sequence of these activities through a precedence network from start
to finish, the sum of whose durations determines the overall duration.

Prior to any analysis being conducted, a project network is created

from the agreed work packages and activities defined in the work
breakdown structure, as shown in Figure 2.3.2.1. The dependencies
exist because of the logical relationship between the activities
dictated by the technical characteristics of each activity. In simple
terms, the kettle can’t be boiled until it is filled with water. Boiling the
kettle is dependent on it being filled with water. Filling is a
predecessor of boiling. The logical relationships between these two
activities has now been established. Those who have the technical
expertise and may also be delivering the work will collaborate to
agree what the logical sequence of activities should be, ensuring that
this is optimised as much as possible to be the most efficient way of
delivering all the activities.

Figure 2.3.2.1 Network created from work breakdown structure

Establishing the logic between the activities enables a precedence
network to be determined that shows the relationship between
activities. There are some common dependencies that are used when
creating networks as shown in Figure 2.3.2.2.

Figure 2.3.2.2 Common dependency types

The most common dependency is finish to start, and this acts as a

default choice until sufficient information is known about the individual
activities to consider an alternative.

Once the network has been created, then estimates of duration

(based on the effort required) can be made. The resulting critical path
can be identified as the longest pathway of activity, as seen in Figure
2.3.2.3.
Figure 2.3.2.3 Network showing activity durations and critical path

Figure 2.3.2.3 shows the critical path as activities A,B,F. Other

pathways are shorter in their duration and are said to have float. The
critical path also represents the shortest time to complete all activities
in the logical order required.

Float is a term used to describe the flexibility with which an activity

may be rescheduled. Float is created when a shorter duration activity
is in parallel with a longer duration activity in the network. For
example, if a 10-day activity was in parallel with an 8-day activity in
the network, the 8-day activity would have 2 days float. This means
that it could be moved, extended, delayed or split by up to 2 days
without affecting the overall duration of the project. It is useful to
identify float and it is mainly used to help schedule activities within
resource constraints. There are various types of float, such as total
float and free float.
Total float is defined as the time by which an activity may be delayed
or extended without affecting the overall duration or violating a target
finish date. Free float is defined as the time by which an activity may
be delayed or extended without affecting the start of any succeeding
activity.

The purpose of milestones

A milestone is defined as a key event selected for its importance in
the schedule, commonly associated with tangible acceptance of
deliverables. It is good practice to produce a milestone schedule to
show stakeholders the major milestones and for reporting current and
forecast progress.

Once the network analysis has been completed and the network
optimised a Gantt chart is created to show the activities against a
timeline (see Figure 2.3.2.4). Milestones are entered into the
schedule as if they were an activity, but they have zero duration and
therefore act as markers, rather than having any duration in the
timeline. In this simple example, the milestones are shown as black
diamond shapes and so they can be easy to see within the detail of
the bar chart. However, if this was a more complex schedule with
many more activities, the milestones may not be as visible.
Figure 2.3.2.4 Network and Gantt chart showing milestones

There are a number of stakeholders, such as the sponsor or senior

management, who do not need to know the detail of specific tasks,
floats and dependencies, etc. They do, however, need a high-level
summary of current progress. A milestone chart will provide the
necessary level of communication.

The milestone chart will show a stripped-down version of the

schedule with activity bars removed, as shown in Figure 2.3.2.5. This
example (timeline in weeks) shows the project milestones at a
reference time, ‘Time now’. From this chart it can be seen that the
project has started on time; however, it is forecast that milestone MS
1 is to be achieved two weeks later than planned. The delay in
reaching MS 1 seems to be causing a forecast delay on MS 2 of four
weeks and a delay of the finish milestone of three weeks. Hopefully
the early warning created by the forecast will prompt action to be
taken that might reduce the slippage.

Figure 2.3.2.5 Milestone chart

The term ‘time boxing’

Many agile methods apply the idea of time boxing, where an iterative
life cycle is adopted that seeks to deliver value in an incremental way,
rather than adopting a linear (or waterfall) life cycle, which aims to
deliver value at the end of the project. A timebox is an iteration with a
fixed end date that is not allowed to change, thereby adjusting the
scope and quality to deliver on time and to cost. The agile approach
will commit to delivering on time and so each iteration may have
several timeboxes. Multiple timebox iterations are likely to be
employed in parallel to develop different aspects of the deliverable.
Having such a rigid approach to time planning maintains the team’s
focus on achieving targeted goals. Overall, using iterations allows
earlier return on some of the benefits that have already been
implemented while validating the concepts and engaging users.
Options for resource optimisation (including resource
levelling and resource smoothing)
The main objectives of resource optimisation are to make sure that all
resources are used optimally. There are several stages to building up
a clear picture of how the resources will be used to deliver the
required scope. The first stage is to allocate suitable resources to
each of the tasks. Checks will ensure that they have the right skills
and competencies to do the assigned work. Once resource allocation
is complete, the resource demand profile can be viewed using a
resource histogram, a block graph showing the quantity of resource
that has been allocated over the time schedule, as shown in Figure
2.3.2.6.

Figure 2.3.2.6 Resource histogram showing the demand profile resulting from resource
allocation decisions

Figure 2.3.2.6 shows that the work can’t be done as scheduled as

the current availability of resource is limited to four and the allocation
to activity F exceeds that limit.
There are two basic options available to the project manager:
resource levelling and resource smoothing.

Resource levelling (resource limited scheduling) answers the

question: With the resources available, when will the work be
finished? Levelling is used where resource availability is limited, for
example, specialists, complex testing equipment or where there might
be space or accommodation restrictions.

Resource levelling can be achieved in the project by:

■ Redefining the scope of the activities to be undertaken by the

particular resource concerned. In simple terms, this might mean
giving some of the work to an under-utilised resource.
■ Redefining the specification (avoiding if possible, any compromise
to the quality of the final product).
■ Increasing task duration to reduce the overall resource
requirements.
■ Increasing resources on earlier tasks to bring workload forward,
such that peaks in the future are reduced. This will have cost, and
possibly quality, implications.
■ Moving activities that are not on the critical path to reduce demand
at peak times – i.e. using free and total float to optimise the
schedule.

Figure 2.3.2.7 shows the result of resource levelling, where activity F

has been extended by removing one resource and spreading the
activity over an additional two time periods. The activity has been
extended within its available float, so will not have any effect on the
overall duration. For this to be possible in practice, it assumes that
the activity will behave in the desired manner. It may not be realistic
to think that an activity duration will expand or contract in exact
proportions to the people being added or removed. Prior to making
effective resource optimisation decisions a thorough examination of
the task and its technical characteristics would be necessary.
Figure 2.3.2.7 Resource histogram after levelling

When all levelling options have been considered and a solution is still
unavailable, the project duration will extend but hopefully this is will be
minimised to the least possible extent.

Resource smoothing (time limited scheduling) is used when time is

more important than cost. The objective is to deliver the work within
the fixed timescale. This may involve reducing the duration of
activities by adding resources, for example, more people, the same
number of people working longer hours, or additional equipment and
then trying to get a ‘smooth’ usage of resources, avoiding peaks and
troughs of resource demand and optimising their flow from one piece
of work to another.

Resource smoothing needs to be considered on a resource-by-

resource basis, particularly when a reduction in the overall duration of
the schedule is required, perhaps in response to changing time
priorities. Applying additional resources to critical path activities is the
only way the overall schedule will be impacted. If additional resources
were to be applied to activities with float, it would just provide
additional float to those activities with no impact on the duration
overall. Resource smoothing will ensure that any peaks and troughs
will be smoothed out when additional resources were being applied.

Achieving a smoothed resource profile may require some redefinition

of the order of some of the work, where the logic used originally was
discretionary not mandatory, for example, where work could be done
in parallel rather than in sequence. Achieving the optimally resourced
schedule can be a creative process requiring multiple iterations to get
the best result possible.

There is, of course, a finite limit to the resource that can be put into
some tasks due to the nature of the task and the environment. For
example, a task involving data entry will be impacted very little by
additional resource, if there is only one data terminal available. If
resource really is finite, there are no more hours available from skilled
people or no more equipment available, then there is no option but to
extend durations and the overall project time to accommodate this as
shown in Figure 2.3.2.8.

Figure 2.3.2.8 Resource levelling and smoothing options

The term ‘procurement strategy’

The procurement strategy is the high-level approach for securing the
goods and services required from external suppliers to satisfy
project, programme and portfolio needs. External suppliers will often
be contractor organisations, but may also be another department or
division of the host organisation. Where the external source is a
separate legal entity, the terms under which goods and services are
procured will be the subject of a legal contract, which will outline the
legally binding obligations between the various parties. When the
supply source is part of the same organisation, an internal service-
level agreement may be used.

Decisions to make with the sponsor and wider governance are:

■ How much risk to retain in the project and how much to share with
suppliers in the supply chain?
■ On a continuum from transactional (based solely on price and
supply) to collaborative (considering a more integrated relationship
and working together to serve parties interests), what type of
relationship is desired with different suppliers, and why?

The complexity of the work, the capability of the team, the

client/owner’s appetite for risk and the analysis of the market are all
considered prior to deciding what procurement route is best. The
resulting procurement strategy for the project considers:

■ make or buy decision – do the work in-house or procure external

contractor;
■ supplier selection – objective selection following required process;
■ contractual relationship – type of contract for required work with
suitable terms and conditions;
■ reimbursement methods – on what basis will suppliers be paid;
fixed sum, variable, milestone payment;
■ contract administration – managing service delivery and ensuring
contractual performance.
Stand-alone projects may be able to take advantage of procurement
arrangements set up by the host organisation. Similarly, those that
are part of a programme may find that much of the procurement is
handled at the higher level. Delivery contractors often have to use
their client’s procurement process and choice of supplier as part of
the conditions of contract.

When a project has specialist, or unique, requirements it will need

access to procurement specialists and must consider procurement
implications as early in the life cycle as is practicable. Waiting until the
full approval of the project at the end of the definition phase may, for
example, result in tender delays and long lead times having a
detrimental effect on the schedule.

In some projects, procured resources can represent the majority of

the cost, so a rigorous procurement process is vital to success. It
would be common for organisations to hold approved supplier listings
and carry out periodic audits to provide assurance of quality,
capability and capacity to deliver. All procurement involves risk and all
aspects of the resource management plan must be prepared with risk
management in mind.

2.3.3 Information management and reporting

Learning objectives
This section considers the processes for managing project data that
is essential for effective delivery of the project. All project
stakeholders rely on accurate and timely information for teams and
stakeholders to make informed decisions and fulfil their role in a cost-
efficient and effective way.

By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:
 Learning outcome Assessment criteria
4. Understand project 4.11 Outline the purpose and benefits of project
management planning progress reporting

Information management is the process that includes the collection,

storage, curation, dissemination, archiving and destruction of
documents, images, drawings and other sources of information.
Project documentation should be considered a reliable information
source to communicate to all stakeholders and to provide
documentary evidence for assurance.

Many organisations have standard forms and tools to manage

information, potentially supported by a project management office
(PMO). Computer software packages exist to manage such tasks,
optimising the use of existing data and allowing it to be harvested to
build project analytics, which is vital for the organisation to develop its
project management maturity and learning. Standard templates are
useful to help with assurance and process improvement. These are
documented in the information management plan, a section of the
project management plan, and approved by governance.

Information management works closely with the communication

management processes. The communication plan identifies the
stakeholders that will require some form of communication about the
project and its progress. Information management identifies the type
of information that will be sent to those stakeholders and the timing of
that information. Not all stakeholders should receive reports
concerning all aspects of the project, but those stakeholders who are
required to make decisions about the project must receive their
information in a timely manner.

Purpose and benefits of project progress reporting

The purpose of project progress reporting is to ensure the provision
of accurate and timely information for teams and stakeholders to
keep track of deliverables and make informed decisions to fulfil their
role in a cost-efficient and effective way. There are three elements
required for any performance measurement: a baseline to measure
against; data on actual performance; and an assessment of the
implications of the performance to date. Progress monitoring enables
meaningful reports to be presented to the sponsor and governance
board to enable appropriate decisions to be made to improve
performance. There are several pieces of information that will
typically be reported on throughout the project and the project
manager will use this information in a number of ways to help ensure
successful project outcomes.

■ Performance status – actual or forecast date of achievement for

the deliverables.
■ Schedule status – estimated time of completion for each task.
■ Cost Status – actual expenditure and the committed expenditure to
date for each task.
■ Status of quality progress – changes that might affect the form or
function of the task deliverables.
■ Risk exposure system – changes in the status of any identified
threats to the achievement of tasks, together with any new threats
or opportunities.
■ Exception thresholds and variance reporting – defined triggers will
require the task owner to report variations to forecast time and
cost at completion, and suggest recovery actions.
■ Motivation and satisfaction of team members.
■ Performance of contractors and the health of the relationships in
the supply chain.
■ Effectiveness of communication with stakeholders.

The project manager will have several uses for this reported
information. Schedule status information will be reviewed and the
schedule updated. Any variances reported to the schedule for time
and cost will be noted and, if necessary, corrective action will be
taken to bring the tasks back onto the appropriate time and cost
schedule. The project manager will use information as a basis for
reporting to the sponsor and steering group and other stakeholders
as indicated by the communications plan.

Information received from the task owners will be formed into a

consolidated report. Information from the task owners and teams is
received frequently, often weekly, while the consolidated report is
required at a lower frequency, often monthly. The reporting of status
may trigger an issue that will require escalating to the sponsor and/or
steering group, sometimes referred to as exception reporting. It could
also be used as a basis for performance reviews with the teams
concerned, particularly with a view to continual improvement, for
example, when reviewing the quality statistics.

Information from teams could also be used to support valuations of

work performed and related payments. As there will be a significant
amount of information analysis to be undertaken in a large project,
the project manager may be assisted by the PMO in this task.
2.3.4 Leadership and teamwork

Learning objectives
This section considers how leadership can enable people coming
together from different functions, disciplines and organisations to
work with a common purpose to deliver something of value to the
investing organisation.

By the time you have studied this section you will have completed the
following:

Learning outcome Assessment criteria

10. Understand leadership 10.1 Define the term ‘leadership’
and teamwork within a
project
10.2 Explain how a project team leader can influence team
performance
10.3 Outline the challenges to a project manager when
developing and leading a project team
10.4 Outline how a project manager can use models to
assist team development (including Belbin and
Tuckman)

The term ‘leadership’

Leadership is described as the ability to establish vision and direction,
to influence and align others towards a common purpose, and to
empower and inspire people to achieve success. There are many
theories of leadership and the subject can be approached in a variety
of ways. One simple approach to understanding different leadership
styles is the comparison of transactional leaders and transformational
leaders.
Transactional leaders ensure that requirements are agreed and that
the rewards and penalties for achievement, or lack of it, are
understood. It is an exchange process to do with setting objectives
and plans: ‘do this and you will be rewarded thus’.

In contrast, transformational leaders do everything possible to help

people succeed in their own right and become leaders themselves.
They help those people to transform themselves and achieve more
than was intended or even thought possible.

How a project team leader can influence team

performance
By definition, the project environment is one of change. New teams
come together to achieve objectives and are disbanded when the
work is complete. As a consequence, the project manager should
focus on different aspects of leadership throughout the project life
cycle and set the pace accordingly.

Early phases may require expertise in influencing stakeholders and

creating vision, and need a more transactional style with the project
team. As the work progresses, the leadership focus shifts to
maintaining momentum, responding to change and applying a more
transformational approach.

The position of leader is granted by followers who make the decision

to follow. That decision will be influenced by the leader using an
appropriate style of leadership that takes account of both the
situation and the readiness of people to follow. Team members’
willingness to follow will vary according to their levels of motivation
and ability, as well as their loyalties, priorities and the context of the
situation.

Challenges to a project manager when developing and

leading a project team
Leadership is needed at all levels within a project-based setting. The
sponsor communicates the vision to the project team, sets high-level
expectations, involves team members in decisions and provides
actionable feedback. The project manager should fully understand
how to get the best out of each person, and should provide direction
and support for them. Team members share responsibilities and work
collaboratively. All leaders must provide timely and constructive
feedback, and also be receptive to feedback provided to them by
members of the team.

Leaders need to adapt their style and approach to the needs of the
team and the work that needs to be accomplished; this is called
Situational Leadership®. Figure 2.3.4.1 shows the factors that
influence leadership styles and the varying styles that can be adopted
in the Situational Leadership® model. There are some situations
when the leader needs to be directive, for example, to address an
issue that threatens the achievement of objectives.

Figure 2.3.4.1 Factors that contribute to variance in leadership style

A mentoring or coaching style is appropriate when there is time to

focus on development of the team as well as goal achievement. For
much of the time, when the team is established and working well, the
leader delegates responsibility for achieving activities to team
members, only intervening if evidence arises to suggest that
performance is not to agreed expectations. Leadership in a project
context is usually performed with limits on the leader’s power.
requiring them to adopt a style that builds team and wider
stakeholder commitment.

Situational Leadership® provides choices of leadership style. Is there

a best choice? The answer is a qualified ‘yes’, providing that the
leader takes account of two aspects. First, the criticality of the
situation; the more critical the situation the more the leader may have
to exert control and take a directing style. Communication between
leader and team is short, sharp and commanding. Second, the skills
and motivation of the team members; the greater the team’s abilities
the more the leader can empower the team to complete tasks,
perhaps adopting a more delegating style.

The main challenge for a leader in considering a Situational

Leadership® approach is having a good background knowledge of
the individual team members’ skill levels and some insight into their
levels of motivation. In addition, they need to have a developed
degree of situational awareness to make quick, reliable assessments
of the nature of the situation and implications of any delays in
response.

In general, teamwork has benefits to both the individual team

members themselves and any organisation seeking to deliver multiple
projects and programmes. Teamwork creates collaboration in the
workplace, which can result in more flexible work schedules,
particularly when team members are cross-trained to cover for each
other’s skills and strengths. It’s also important to note that flexible
working is increasingly being considered as a way to help improve
productivity and develop a better work–life balance for employees.

Another challenge for the project manager is the responsibility for

delivering the intended outputs and outcomes when they may have
had little say about who joins the team and whether the chosen team
members have the right skills and attributes.
This makes the ability of the project manager to develop and lead
teams of vital importance. The simplest project has people who take
on the roles of sponsor, project manager and team members – even
if they are part-time roles as part of a wider job. Iterative and agile
projects may involve small dedicated teams including a product owner
or on-site customer.

As projects get larger, the project manager role is typically supported

by specialists in aspects of project-based working, for example,
schedulers, cost estimators, risk facilitators, communication
specialists or business change leaders. Some team members may
span multiple organisations, for example, suppliers, partners or
customer/client staff as members of the deployment team. Additional
skills to develop and lead the team across organisational and cultural
boundaries are needed in this situation.

Some teams are co-located in the same geographic area. Where this
is possible there are distinct benefits from the ability to share a
physical space where plans and progress can be visualised, and
close working relationships can be developed.

How a project manager can use models to assist team

development
For teams to be effective it is important that team members are
understood as individuals in terms of their capabilities, their
preferences, their cultural norms and expectations, as well as the
social dynamics between team members. By paying attention to team
development, project managers can create positive working cultures
that enable high performance of the team and an increased chance of
success.

As soon as a team forms it is unlikely, at that stage, to achieve the

performance levels that match the individual capabilities of the group
members. Psychological researcher Bruce Tuckman observed that
teams will typically go through different stages of maturity over time
before reaching their optimum performance levels. The Tuckman
model (Tuckman, 1977) identified five stages a team will progress
through, from when the team is formed to when the team is
disbanded.

An important aspect of this model is that the team does not pass
through these stages naturally. Progress through each stage is
facilitated by effective leadership actions. The team leader has a key
role in helping the team move through these stages as efficiently as
possible and readdressing stages as new team members join or
others leave. The Tuckman model (Tuckman, 1977) is shown in action
in Figure 2.3.4.2 and outlines the stages as:

Forming
This is the first point of contact that team members have in this
project context. Their knowledge of the project or environmental
circumstances is very limited. Team members are naturally guarded.
At this stage the leader will ensure that they communicate clear goals
and objectives, creating an inclusive and coordinated environment.

Storming
The team now starts to understand that they will be unable to achieve
goals on their own and that cooperation is expected. It is at this stage
where individual personalities start to influence how team members
inter-react with each other. The biggest issue at this stage is conflict
created through competition and disagreements about how to achieve
project objectives. If conflict is not managed it can cause the team to
reverse back to forming, team members close down and
communication is reduced. The leader has a strong role to ensure
differences are aired and conflict is resolved in a positive way.

Norming
If conflict is resolved successfully the team start to become much
more cooperative with each other as they start to focus on the tasks
required to achieve objectives. This stage is very much felt by the
team as a need for balance; team cohesion is important but not to the
detriment of getting the work done. The leadership priority at this
stage is to provide processes, clear roles and responsibilities, and
timely feedback.

Performing
The team is now delivering the targeted performance. Creative
problem solving and motivation is at its highest level. The leader will
ensure performance is maintained by promoting openness, honesty
and the development of trusting relationships. Now that the team has
experienced achievement it is likely that this will continue; however, it
can’t be taken for granted. The team could actually revert back to
one of the earlier stages, usually in response to change, for example,
due team members leaving and new people joining, or changing the
scope of the tasks. The degree of reversal depends on the scale of
the change but also on the strength of the leader. Strong leadership
means that with even a large-scale change, the team may only revert
back to norming for a short time before returning to performing. The
opposite is also true. For example, under weak leadership a small
change can cause the team to completely collapse, returning back to
forming.

Adjourning
This was a stage that Tuckman identified several years after
developing the original four-stage model. This stage acknowledges
the efforts of the leader in preparing team members for the end of
one team and the start of a new team in the future. Providing
feedback on individual performance, liaising with functional
management and recognising achievement are just some of the
leadership tasks necessary at this stage with the aim of ensuring that
team members are transitioned effectively back into the business or
their organisation.
Figure 2.3.4.2 Stages of team development and leadership actions necessary to reach
performance

The establishment of a team will initially involve the selection of

individuals based on their skills, behaviours and attitudes. When
people with complementary skills and behaviours are committed to a
common objective and method of working it is likely that they will be
able to reach performing within a reasonable time, even with
moderate leadership. Another factor that has also been studied is the
influence of different personalities working together and how they
might have an effect on teamworking.

Cambridge psychologist Meredith Belbin produced a model to show

how different personalities work together to create an effective team.
Belbin described nine social roles (Belbin, 2010) that individuals adopt
and the strengths and weaknesses of each. Within a team, one
person’s strengths balance another’s weaknesses. Individuals will
perform better in a team context if they are given a role that plays to
their strengths. The nine team roles are equally grouped into three
clusters, action, social and thinking, as shown in Figure 2.3.4.3.
Figure 2.3.4.3 Belbin’s nine social roles
Source: www.Belbin.com

Action
The Shaper will provide the necessary drive to ensure that the team
keeps moving and does not lose focus or momentum. The
Implementer will plan a workable strategy and carry it out as
efficiently as possible. Most effectively used at the end of tasks to
polish and scrutinise the work for errors, the Completer Finisher will
subject output to the highest standards of quality control.

Social
The Resource Investigator uses their inquisitive nature to find ideas to
bring back to the team, excellent for communicating from the project
to stakeholders. The Team worker is the diplomat of the team,
helping the team to gel, using their versatility to identify the work
required and complete it on behalf of the team. The Coordinator’s
role is necessary to focus on the team’s objectives, draw out team
members and delegate work appropriately.

Thinking
When the team is faced with obstacles, needs to be highly creative
and good at solving problems in unconventional ways, the Plant
provides the necessary support to allow the team to function well in
these circumstances. The Monitor Evaluator provides a logical eye,
making impartial judgements where required, and weighs up the
team’s options in a dispassionate way. When the team requires in-
depth knowledge in key areas, the Specialist is a member of the
team who has distinct strengths in a very narrow area.

Read about…
The world of project management

Many of the traditional team assessment models assume that the

team members will be working together and will have regular
contact with each other. Current communication technology now
allows teams to be apart from each other and still perform as a
team. An article published in Project considered some of the
challenges that surrounds virtual teams.

Dispersed teams
Virtual working, with team members dispersed around the world,
presents a series of challenges of its own, the most obvious of
which is time difference. Finding times when everyone can talk
together can be particularly difficult. Forming emotional bonds
between team members, and avoiding miscommunication, are
other well-rehearsed issues for virtual teams.

“Even when webcams are used, there are misunderstandings

because you are not seeing the non-verbal gestures people
make,” says Sean Dubberke, New York-based director of learning
with training organisation RW3 CultureWizard. “And on electronic
platforms, like email, chat or SMS, it’s common for people to
misunderstand what has been said.”

Put the two things together – multiple cultures and virtual

teamworking – and the challenges are augmented. Key areas
include language, communication, relationship building and working
styles.

Originally published in Project Winter 2019.

If you would like to read more about this example or other real-
world project examples, copies of APM’s Project journal can be
downloaded from the members’ resources area of the APM
website: apm.org.uk/project.
3 Self-assessment

3.1 Test questions

These short quizzes are designed to give you a quick insight into your
knowledge of each section as you work through the guide and so will
give you feedback on your progress. The questions are in the order
of the main study text. Complete the questions in each section and
choose one answer from the four choices given. Check your answers
at the end of this section and refer back to the main text to revise
your learning.

Section 2 – Short quiz

2.1 Introducing projects

2.1.1 Project environment
1 PESTLE analysis covers the following areas:
A Political, Economic, Sociological, Technical, Legal,
Environmental.
B Personnel, Economic, Safety, Technical, Legal,
Ecological.
C Political, Ecological, Strategy, Technical, Life cycle,
Environmental.
D Personnel, Ecological, Sociological, Training, Life cycle,
Ecological.
2 Which of the following best describes a project’s context?
A The environment in which the business operates.
B The geographic location in which the project is
undertaken.
C The external and internal business environments including
stakeholder’s interests and influences.
D Industry and business sector practices.

3 When managing the internal context, the project manager

should especially be aware of:
A organisational strategy, policies and frameworks.
B competitive positioning.
C new legislation.
D business continuity.

4 To be fully effective, the project manager:

A must take into consideration the internal and external
environments.
B need only deal with the internal environment since the
sponsor will deal with the external environment.
C should manage the external stakeholders and external
environment.
D must liaise with regulating bodies to ensure requirements
include the latest legislation.

5 Which type of projects needs to consider environmental

constraints?
A Construction projects only.
B Construction and petrochemical projects only.
C All but IT projects.
D All projects.
6 What is the best way that PESTLE analysis supports the
development of a business case?
A It provides a powerful way in which the most favourable
financial returns are shown from the project options
being considered.
B It considers a number of options avoiding over reliance
on a single idea, when there may be other more
favourable options available.
C It identifies which tools and techniques are necessary in
order to arrive at the best group of projects to be
considered as valid options.
D It shows which assets, capabilities, processes and
functions are required to be included in the business
case.

7 When using a PESTLE analysis, a potential change in national

government would be an example of a:
A political factor.
B economic factor.
C sociological factor.
D a potential change of government would not be
considered in such an analysis.

8 Which of the following aspects would best describe part of

the project environment?
A The influence and interests of the key stakeholders of
the project.
B The technical difficulties that are anticipated when
undertaking the project.
C The circumstances within which the project is being
undertaken.
 D The relationship between the project manager and the
project team.

9 What would be a most likely result for an organisation

following a PESTLE analysis?
A The organisation would know what political change is
most likely and therefore the impacts on objectives
considered.
B The organisation would most likely have a number of
options available as to how the desired objectives could
be achieved.
C The organisation would have an understanding of the
necessary skills required to deliver the objectives
required.
D The organisation would be able to develop an accurate
estimate of the costs and time frame for the objectives
to be achieved.

10 Which of the following is true of the project environment?

A Within the environment are the factors that influence and
impact projects.
B Only certain types of projects are influenced by the
environment.
C The project environment will only really impact the project
at the start.
D There is no real way of determining the true project
environment.

11 Why is environmental analysis the most important analysis for

an organisation to undertake?
A It allows the detailed execution plans, to be defined, that
are likely to be developed in order to deliver the project.
 B It is the only way in which the scope of the project can
be identified and detailed in plans.
C It identifies the problems, opportunities or business
needs which may require some degree of response.
D It is the only form of detailed planning that can be carried
out in the earliest phases of the project life cycle.

12 What is the most likely conclusion resulting from a PESTLE

analysis?
A The agreed end date for the project.
B A list of possible stakeholders.
C The number of project phases necessary.
D The size of the project team required.

NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS

SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /12

2.1.2 Project, programme and portfolio

management
1 Which of the following is a characteristic of a project rather
than business-as-usual?
A Sustain the organisation to achieve its business purpose
and goals.
B Repetitive, non-unique product, service or result.
C Formal line authority over functional unit personnel.
D Achieve objectives, then terminate.

2 Which one of the following is a consideration of project

management?
 A Making sure that operational management objectives are
maintained as projects are delivered.
B Planning and executing effective communications within
the project.
C Measuring business benefits of projects to ensure that, in
retrospect, they have been a worthwhile consideration.
D Setting the organisation’s standards for excellence in
project delivery.

3 Which of the following illustrates why project management is

the most efficient way of managing change?
A It provides recommendations for the organisation to
follow for employing a consultancy firm who specialise in
change management.
B It provides a profile of the skills required when employing
project managers.
C It ensures that the head of the organisation will always
be accountable for achieving the benefits of all projects
undertaken by that organisation.
D It utilises resources as and when required under the
direction of a manager with single point responsibility.

4 Which of the following is not a characteristic of business-as-

usual?
A Recruitment of new project managers.
B Operating new production machinery.
C Training of operations staff to become more safety
aware.
D Introducing change.

5 When delivering a project, the project manager has to

balance which of the following constraints?
 A Configuration and delivery.
B Time, cost and quality.
C Cost, scope and change.
D Budget, cost and risk.

6 Which of these is not a project management activity?

A Recruitment of project managers.
B Producing a business case.
C Carrying out a post project review.
D Benefits realisation.

7 Which of the following would be considered as the best

description of a project?
A A group of activities that are required to deliver a portion
of work.
B A method of planning how work should be conducted.
C A sum of activities needed to meet specific objectives.
D A set of techniques used to deliver change.

8 Which one of the following would be most suited to a project

management approach?
A Maintaining existing systems.
B Operating new systems.
C Minor changes to existing systems.
D Introducing new systems.

9 Throughout the life of the project, schedule, cost and

performance are always considered as:
A fixed throughout the life of the project.
B at the discretion of the project manager.
 C agreed between project manager and business sponsor.
D the same for all projects regardless of outcome.

10 Teams formed within an organisational structure and aligned

to suit functional demands would best describe:
A business-as-usual.
B a project.
C a programme.
D a portfolio.

11 Which one of the following examples would most likely be

delivered using a project management approach?
A Designing and building a prototype for a new type of
electric vehicle.
B Managing the delivery of goods and services within a
fixed-term contract.
C A drilling rig drilling multiple wells in a three-year
exploration of new oil fields.
D Managing the first human space trip to explore the
surface of Mars.

12 Programme management could be defined as?

A The coordinated line management of a team of
programme and project managers to achieve beneficial
change.
B The coordinated management of a functional area of the
business serving a number of different projects and
programmes.
C The coordinated management of progress concerning a
programme of activities identified in the project schedule.
D The coordinated management of projects and business-
as-usual activities to achieve beneficial change.
13 One of the key benefits of programme management is that:
A it enables every project to be covered by one all-
embracing plan.
B it reduces the need to assign priorities to individual
projects within the programme.
C dependencies and interfaces between projects can be
managed to greater business advantage.
D management time can be saved by grouping projects
together under a single distinct programme.

14 Which of the following is a key part of programme

management?
A Benefits management.
B Quality management.
C Scope management.
D Operations management.

15 One responsibility of the programme manager is to:

A coordinate the planners between projects.
B manage dependencies and interfaces between projects.
C ensure delivery to time according to the project schedule.
D manage interfaces between teams on a project.

16 Which is the correct statement? The programme manager

can be responsible for:
A managing resource priorities between projects.
B carrying out post project reviews.
C defining the project responsibility assignment matrix.
D undertaking configuration management.
17 In most circumstances, which of the following could not be
specifically attributed as a benefit of programme
management?
A More efficient use of resources.
B Improved teamworking.
C More effective delivery of benefits.
D Project objectives linked to strategic objectives.

18 Portfolio management could be defined as:

A a group of projects brought together to form a strategic
programme.
B the development of expertise and competency
throughout the whole organisation.
C the strategic business plan that is developed to achieve
organisational goals.
D selection, prioritisation and control of an organisation’s
projects and programmes.

19 Which of the following would best justify the implementation

of portfolio management?
A When more projects that the organisation delivers need
to be delivered on time and on budget.
B The organisation needs to have a stronger focus on
realising the benefits from the projects that it delivers.
C Where there is a need for the organisation’s projects and
programmes to be more aligned with its key business
objectives.
D When there is a significant one-off project that needs to
be delivered that is critical to the organisation’s business
continuity.

20 Which is not a key responsibility of a portfolio manager?

 A To ensure that the objective of each project, programme
and business-as-usual operation is in line with the
organisation’s strategic objectives.
B To prioritise allocation of resources to provide maximum
benefit to the portfolio.
C To define detailed requirements for each project within
the portfolio.
D To coordinate common processes to ensure maximum
benefit.

21 Which is a correct statement? A key advantage of portfolio

management is that it:
A allows portfolio managers to focus more on day-to-day
routine activities.
B ensures that any programmes and projects do not
impact adversely on business-as-usual.
C reduces the interference of business-as-usual
stakeholders in project work.
D avoids changes that may impact on business-as-usual
activities.

22 What is one of the main goals of portfolio management?

A To balance the implementation of change initiatives and
the maintenance of business-as-usual.
B To allow portfolio managers to manage more on a day-
to-day basis and so improve decision-making.
C To help each project manager deliver their project into
business-as-usual and realise benefits.
D To reduce the amount of change that is implemented into
business-as-usual and so avoid unnecessary impact on
operations.
NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS
SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /22

2.1.3 Project roles

1 Which of the following statements about the role of project
sponsor is false?
A A project sponsor is an advocate for the project and the
change it brings about.
B A project sponsor writes and owns the project
management plan.
C A project sponsor is able to work across functional
boundaries within an organisation.
D A project sponsor is prepared to commit sufficient time
and effort to support the project.

2 Which statement best describes a responsibility of the project

sponsor?
A Monitoring progress and use of the project resources.
B Analysing the project team’s productivity.
C Ensuring the benefits of the project are realised.
D Planning project evaluation reviews for lessons learned.

3 What is a key role of the project manager?

A Coordinating the development of the project
management plan.
B Conducting benefits realisation reviews.
C Reviewing progress against success criteria and
checking that the planned business benefits will be
achieved.
D Authorising any changes to the business case.
4 The group whose remit is to set the strategic direction of a
project is commonly known as:
A the project management team.
B primary user group.
C steering group.
D supplier group.

5 Which stakeholders are likely to form the main part of a

project governance board?
A Project sponsor, project manager and quality manager.
B Corporate management, project sponsor, quality
manager and project office.
C Sponsor, supplier representative and user
representative.
D Sponsor, project manager and senior project team
members.

6 Who in the project is responsible for benefits realisation?

A The senior management of the organisation.
B The project manager.
C The sponsor.
D The end users.

7 Which of the following role is primarily responsible for defining

goals and creating vision for the operability of the project’s
outputs?
A Project sponsor.
B Product owner.
C User.
D Business case owner.
8 What is an example of a project management office activity
that would be most likely undertaken to support a project?
A Developing the project management plan.
B Developing the business case.
C Carrying out a health check.
D Carrying out day-to-day resource management.

9 When effectively implemented, what is one of the key roles of

governance?
A Provide confidence that the business case is the best
option for the current circumstances and that there will
be no changes as the project is being delivered.
B Provide confidence that the plans that have been
developed will guarantee that the project will be
delivered on time and to budget.
C Provide confidence to all stakeholders that projects are
being well managed and the most appropriate financial
and technical controls are being exerted.
D Provide confidence to all project team members that
their jobs are secure at least from the period of the
project start to the handover.

10 Governance could best be defined as:

A the framework of authority and accountability that
defines and controls the outputs, outcomes and benefits
from projects, programmes and portfolios.
B the framework that structures a review of the project,
programme or portfolio and aids a decision to be made
about whether to continue with the next phase or stage
of progress.
C the framework that is used for selection, prioritisation
and control of an organisation’s projects and
 programmes in line with its strategic objectives and
capacity to deliver.
D the framework used by the organisation and approved by
the project board at project initiation that allows the
definition of the terms of reference for the project.

11 Who is best placed in the project to manage sponsor and

user expectations?
A The senior management team.
B The project manager.
C The project management office.
D The project team.

12 Where in the project life cycle would the project manager

typically be appointed?
A At the start of the concept phase.
B At the start of the definition phase.
C At the start of the development phase.
D At the end of the handover stage.

NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS

SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /12

2.1.4 Business case

1 Which of the following best describes a project’s business
case?
A The definition of why the project is required and the
desired benefits.
B A statement of what the project will deliver in terms of
products/deliverables.
 C The reason why the project sponsor wants the project to
proceed.
D A statement as to how the project fits into the long-term
aims of the project sponsor.

2 What information would be expected as content for a

business case?
A A detailed schedule of the project.
B An outline of the project management team.
C An outline of the estimated costs of implementing the
project.
D A detailed breakdown of the scope of the project.

3 Which of the following statements about the business case is

true?
A The business case should always be referred to
throughout the project.
B The business case once written will never change.
C The business case becomes the project manager’s
responsibility, once the project is in the implementation
phase.
D The business case contains key information on how the
project will be performed.

4 The responsibility for development and production of the

business case is primarily with:
A the project manager.
B jointly shared between the project manager and project
sponsor.
C the project sponsor.
D the project steering group/committee.
5 Which of the following would not be considered as part of the
business case?
A Safety plan for the project.
B Implementation options.
C Stakeholder identification.
D Business benefits.

6 What is the importance of having a business case?

A It allows the sponsor to use the document as a baseline
to calculate project slippage.
B It provides an overview of the project team performance
at each stage of delivery.
C It shows how the project manager is performing in
delivering the project.
D It allows the sponsor to decide on project continuity
when used at gate reviews.

7 Which one of the following does not describe the prime

purpose of the business case?
A To define the strategic direction for the project.
B To describe the operational impact of project delivery.
C To show how the project tasks will be scheduled to
achieve the success criteria.
D To document the benefits of the various options that have
been considered.

8 Which of the following is most true of the business case?

A It provides details of the overarching approach to be
taken to move from the current to a future desirable
state using a coordinated and structured approach.
B It evaluates the benefit, cost and risk of alternative
project options and provides a rationale for the preferred
 solution.
C It demonstrates the relationship between the costs of
undertaking a project, initial and recurrent, and the
benefits likely to arise from the changed situation, initially
and recurrently.
D It describes each major element in the work breakdown
structure (WBS), describing the work content, resources
required, the time frame of the work element and a cost
estimate.

9 How does having a business case help an organisation?

A It provides a documented account of the decisions that
have been made and by whom in the planning of the
project’s finances, ensuring the project’s compliance with
recognised governance standards.
B It provides an overview of how the project will deliver the
scheduled progress over the period agreed between the
project manager, sponsor and other key stakeholders
associated with the project.
C It provides a means by which the sponsor can monitor
the project manager’s performance in relation to the
plans documented in the business case and highlight
points at which a change of project manager may be
necessary.
D It provides a recognised framework by which project
spending proposals can be recorded, reviewed and
audited to learn lessons about how efficiently the
organisation is deploying funds to achieve its targeted
returns.

10 What aspects of benefits realisation would be considered as

most important to note in the business case?
 A Who is going to be responsible for carrying out each of
the project’s activities.
B How the benefits will be realised, measured and the
stakeholders involved.
C What type of contract is going to be used to procure
delivery of the project.
D Which benefits should be realised first and then the
subsequent order.

11 Which statement regarding the purpose of the business case

would be most true?
A Once agreed the business case will become the baseline
by which the project will be deployed.
B It will act as a reference for the project team regarding
the specific processes to be used for project delivery.
C It will determine which stakeholders are most eligible to
become members of the steering group.
D It will be referred to throughout the project in order to
make decisions about the continuing viability of the
project.

12 What aspect of business case development will assist project

management the most?
A That the sponsor who has developed the business case
will also be the sponsor who oversees actual delivery of
the project.
B That the option chosen has taken recognition of how the
resultant project is actually going to be managed and
delivered.
C That the project management plan for the project is
captured as an appendix of the approved business case.
D That the business case has sufficient detail to allow the
project manager to take over accountability for the
 financial success of the project.

NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS

SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /12

2.1.5 Project life cycles

1 Which of the following is true regarding differences between
linear and iterative life cycles?
A A linear life cycle is best for evolving projects whereas
an iterative life cycle is better for more structured
projects.
B A linear life cycle is sequential whereas an iterative life
cycle repeats one or more phases.
C A linear life cycle is always longer in duration whereas an
iterative life cycle is always shorter in its duration.
D A linear life cycle is formally managed by a dedicated
project manager whereas management responsibility is
shared in an iterative life cycle.

2 A generic linear project life cycle might include the sequence:

A Definition, concept, design, implementation, transition.
B Concept, definition, deployment, transition.
C Planning, deployment, closing, learning, review.
D Feasibility, planning, deployment, handover, review.

3 One of the main purposes of dividing a project into life cycle

phases is to:
A break the work into controllable blocks in terms of effort
and size.
B ensure the processes are properly maintained.
 C ensure that the workforce is certain of their individual
roles.
D provide a means of producing overall project cost
estimates.

4 Implementation of plans and verification of performance is

most likely to occur in:
A the deployment phase.
B the definition phase.
C the concept phase.
D the adoption phase.

5 Which of the following might be a probable cause to consider

early project closure?
A The cost to complete the project is greater than the
value to be achieved.
B The project is on schedule but spent less than expected.
C The project is expected to yield greater value than stated
in the business case.
D The project manager has resigned and an immediate
replacement is unavailable.

6 Which one of the following statements about the project life

cycle is true?
A The phases in the project life cycle are always the same
size.
B The same processes are used in each of the project life
cycle phases.
C The project life cycle has a number of distinct phases.
D The project budget is divided equally between each
phase of the project life cycle.
7 Where in the project life cycle is benefits realisation most
common?
A The start of deployment.
B The end of deployment.
C The end of the concept phase prior to handover.
D The extended life cycle.

8 What is the main purpose of iterations in an iterative life

cycle?
A To reassure stakeholders that the project will deliver as
expected.
B To progressively elaborate and improve understanding
based on client interaction.
C To allow time for a thorough project management plan to
be developed.
D To ensure that the project manager appointed
understands exactly what is required.

9 What is the main benefit of using prototyping, time boxing or

iterative thinking?
A They offer tested methods for experimentation and risk
reduction.
B They reduce stakeholders’ expectations of how they will
benefit from the project.
C They allow the project to develop an extended life cycle.
D They always deliver the project quicker than planned.

10 What are the likely results of building agile working into a

project or programme?
A Reduced schedule time.
B Increased cost.
 C Increased efficiency and flexibility.
D Reduced risk.

11 Which phase of the project life cycle will utilise the new
project and enable the acceptance and use of the benefits?
A Adoption.
B Transition.
C Deployment.
D Implementation.

12 What is the main reason for having an extended life cycle?

A Allow the project to have extra time to ensure that that
there is enough capacity to realise benefits.
B Allow upfront planning for any supplemental activities and
incorporate additional considerations for benefits
realisation.
C Allow time for stakeholders to decide how they will use
the output to best effect that will realise benefits.
D Allow extra funding to be applied to the project to ensure
that sufficient resources exist to maximise benefits
realisation.

NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS

SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /12

2.1.6 Project management plan

1 A project management plan could best be described as:
A an activity on a network diagram.
B a Gantt chart.
C a plan for the programme.
 D an overall plan for the project.

2 You have been asked to assist in the development of a

project management plan for the project. As a minimum, what
should this plan include?
A A summary of the project acceptance criteria.
B CVs of all the team members.
C Details of previous similar projects.
D Resourcing details for quality reviews.

3 During the consideration of when and how the development of

the project management plan should take place, the
objectives of carrying out such an exercise can often appear
to be uncertain. As a recommendation, the project
management plan should be:
A assembled when all information is available.
B developed iteratively throughout the early stages of the
project.
C completed in detail before the project is authorised.
D free from detailed schedule information.

4 To effectively manage the project the range of documentation

may appear to be extensive; however, the document that
captures the why, what, where, when, how, how much and
who for the project is called:
A the project schedule.
B the project definition and delivery report.
C the project feasibility report.
D the project management plan.
5 Which one of the following statements about the project
management plan (PMP) is considered to be the most
important condition of compliance to ensure an effective plan
is produced?
A The project team should not contribute to the writing of
the PMP.
B The PMP should be agreed and signed off by both the
sponsor and the project manager as a minimum.
C The sponsor should maintain ownership of the PMP.
D The PMP is necessary for effective stakeholder
management.

6 Which of the following would be considered as the main

purpose of a project management plan?
A To provide a documented account of the outcomes of the
planning process.
B To enable agreement between the project sponsor and
project manager with regard to project budget, resource
requirements and timescale.
C To provide a record of how the project was planned, for
archiving in the organisation’s lessons learned.
D To identify and record the projects intended financial
spend over the period of project delivery.

7 What is the agreed reference point that is communicated to

stakeholders prior to any work being started?
A Verified work breakdown structure.
B Deployment baseline.
C Configuration record.
D Business case.

8 Why is it important to produce a project management plan?

 A It shows the benefits expected at the close of the project
and the specific stakeholders who are involved.
B It provides justification for undertaking the project and
provides a rationale for the preferred solution.
C It sets and clarifies the expectations of all stakeholders
who are involved in the project delivery.
D It identifies and establishes the most appropriate means
of procuring the component parts or services for the
project being delivered.

9 When in the project life cycle should the deployment baseline

be formed?
A Deployment phase.
B Concept phase.
C Definition phase.
D Transition phase.

10 What information would you not expect to see in a project

management plan?
A Quality management plan.
B Financial feasibility analysis.
C Risk management plan.
D Details of scope.

11 How is the deployment baseline used throughout the project?

A Progress monitoring and implementation of change
control.
B Benefits realisation.
C Identify options for deployment.
D Prepare users for delivery of the output into operation.
12 Success criteria can be defined as:
A measures of success that can be used throughout the
project to ensure that it is progressing towards a
successful conclusion.
B management practices that will increase the likelihood of
success of a project.
C the satisfaction of stakeholder needs for the deployment
of a project.
D the value of benefits that are realised when the project
delivers its output into business-as-usual.

NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS

SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /12

2.2 Planning for success

2.2.1 Stakeholder engagement
1 A project stakeholder could best be described as:
A a member of the sponsoring organisation’s board of
directors.
B a key player who is seeking to maximise control over the
project outcome.
C a person or group who has an interest in or is impacted
by the project.
D a project team member who has the skills necessary to
deliver the project.

2 Stakeholder analysis considers three aspects for each

stakeholder, which are:
A their interest in the project, whether or not they can
influence the project and whether their attitude to the
 project is for or against.
B their level of technical knowledge, whether or not they
are able to act as sponsor and if they are available.
C their experience, position in the organisational hierarchy
and number of resources managed.
D their interest in the project, whether or not they are a
member of the steering group and if they are likely to
resist changes.

3 An example of an external stakeholder group could be:

A users.
B a governmental regulatory body.
C functional managers within the sponsoring organisation.
D the project team members.

4 One benefit of stakeholder analysis is that:

A the communication plan becomes unnecessary.
B the stakeholders who oppose the project the most can
be ‘cut off’ to reduce their negative influence.
C the communication requirements for each stakeholder
can be established.
D the stakeholders can be removed from any of the
decisions that are being planned.

5 Understanding who stakeholders are and their needs is a key

duty of:
A the quality manager.
B the key users.
C the project manager.
D the business sponsor.
6 The main objective of stakeholder management is to establish
stakeholder:
A interests.
B expectations.
C influence.
D engagement.

7 What rule of thumb can be used for ensuring that key

stakeholders have been included in the process?
A Make use of widely available templates and predefined
structures to ensure a complete spectrum of
stakeholders are identified.
B Ask the most influential stakeholders to identify who else
they think should be involved in the project.
C Analyse other projects and who their stakeholders are
and include them by default.
D Question whose support or lack of it might significantly
influence the success of the project.

8 What is the most likely reason a stakeholder may object to

the project?
A They have a lack of interest in what the project is trying
to achieve as they feel it doesn’t really affect them.
B They haven’t been involved in choosing what they believe
to be a suitable project manager from the candidates
available.
C They have misunderstood what the project is trying to
achieve and have had very little communication from the
project.
D They are a stakeholder in another project and currently
don’t have the time to perform the stakeholder role.
9 What is one of the most important aspects to establish about
a stakeholder’s interest in the project?
A If it is positive or negative.
B If it is regular or intermittent.
C If it is influenced by the project.
D If it is influenced by other stakeholders.

10 What is essential for ensuring the level of stakeholder

engagement is maintained throughout the delivery of the
project?
A Stakeholders communicate with each other.
B The project management plan is established.
C An effective communication plan is used.
D All stakeholders are treated equally.

11 What benefit justifies expending resources to achieve

stakeholder engagement?
A Optimised resource management opportunities.
B Reduced overall costs of project delivery.
C Decreased duration of the project schedule.
D Increased likelihood of the project being accepted.

12 How can the project manager ensure a sound stakeholder

environment?
A Ensure that stakeholders who oppose the project are not
involved.
B Develop an environment where all stakeholder’s needs
are satisfied.
C Develop ways of understanding the needs of
stakeholders.
D Ensure that the influence stakeholders have is reduced.
NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS
SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /12

2.2.2 Communication
1 Three general categories for interpretation of communication
could be described as:
A email, paper, voice.
B tactile/visual, auditory, written.
C telephone, computer, microphone.
D reception, transmission, interruption.

2 To ensure communication is most likely to be effective in the

project, the project manager should:
A ensure that everyone is copied on all emails.
B insist on a lower level of paper documents.
C train project staff in the most up-to-date communication
techniques.
D develop a communication plan.

3 Successful project communications will most likely occur

when:
A the project sponsor takes responsibility for planning all
stakeholder communication from the outset.
B email is the primary method used in order to get
information to stakeholders in a speedy and efficient
manner.
C a standard project communication format for reports is
used to provide feedback to stakeholders.
D the different communication needs of each stakeholder
group are fully understood.
4 What is likely to be a benefit to a project of having a
communication plan?
A The project is more likely to finish on time.
B There will be greater adherence to the organisation’s
governance and standards.
C The project will be less susceptible to uncontrolled
change.
D There will be more focus on what benefits the project will
be delivering.

5 What action can lead to more consistent communication in the

project?
A Only transmitting information that stakeholders have
requested, ensuring that any excess information is kept
to a minimum.
B Communication is carried out en masse ensuring that all
stakeholders get all information.
C Communication is planned in advance and all messages
delivered use the approved framework.
D Communicating information on a one-way basis reducing
the need for stakeholders to waste their time providing
feedback.

6 One way that communication could be improved in the project

is to:
A ensure that free flowing feedback channels are planned
into the communication structure.
B ensure that communication is carried out as much as
possible, transmitting as much information as possible.
C target only those stakeholders who seem to show a valid
interest in the project.
 D avoid planning communication too much so that
messages are not seen as rigid and overly complex.

7 What is a factor that is important when communicating as

part of stakeholder engagement?
A Planned communication will help to establish the level of
interest and power a stakeholder is likely to possess.
B Planned communication will increase the number of
stakeholders who are likely to have an interest in the
project.
C Planned communication will reduce the power of
stakeholders who are likely to have an interest in the
project.
D Planned communication is likely to reduce the number of
valid stakeholders who have an interest in the project.

8 What could be considered a significant barrier to

communication?
A Use of body language.
B Having formal meetings.
C Attitudes, emotions and prejudices.
D Use of informal communication channels.

9 If planning a meeting where there were likely to be

stakeholders with widely different levels of knowledge and
experience attending, what practical proactive measure could
the project manager take to reduce the impact of
communication barriers?
A Ensure that the meeting room was reserved for a longer
period than normal.
B Have a number of meetings where some would be
technical and some non-technical.
 C Aim for a common level of discussion avoiding too
technical discussions.
D Ensure that a glossary of technical terms was made
available in advance.

10 What might be considered a disadvantage of virtual

communication?
A Digital communication links never seem to work as
required.
B Communication being misunderstood.
C There is no method for providing feedback.
D This method of communication tends to be time
consuming.

11 Which factor is likely to have the biggest influence over the

success of communication?
A The size of the communication plan.
B The method of communication chosen.
C The age range of those communicating.
D The type of project being delivered.

12 What is the main aim of the communication plan?

A To increase the chances of achieving effective
engagement.
B To comply with the structure of the project management
plan.
C To identify the skills necessary to deliver a project.
D To increase the likelihood of benefits realisation.
NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS
SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /12

2.2.3 Risk and issue management

1 While providing support to the project and attending a risk
management workshop, the following statements were noted.
Which one of these could be considered as a risk to a
project?
A We have never done a project of this kind before.
B We might not have sufficient people with the right
experience to undertake the project.
C We always find that design verification takes longer than
planned.
D We have never worked in that country before.

2 On examining a particular risk in the project there is some

uncertainty among the project team of how important this risk
is to the project. How would you advise the team on how the
significance of the risk is to be determined?
A By assessing its probability of occurrence.
B By assessing its impact on project objectives.
C By assessing both its probability of occurrence and its
impact on project objectives.
D By assessing its effect on the business case.

3 What is the main benefit of using a risk register in the

project?
A It records risks, their impact and the responses being
adopted.
B It records risk ownership and how issues are being
managed.
 C It assesses the impact and probability of risks taking
place.
D It directs the team in how the management of risk in the
project should be conducted.

4 A member of your team has described being involved in a risk

event. Which one of the following would best describe such
an event?
A An action or set of actions to reduce the probability or
impact of a threat, or to increase the probability or
impact of an opportunity.
B The plan of the response to risks.
C An uncertain event or set of circumstances that if
realised would have an effect on project objectives.
D A risk identification workshop.

5 Which one of the following statements about project risk is

true?
A Risk is always beneficial to the project.
B Risk is neither beneficial or detrimental to the project.
C Risk can be beneficial or detrimental to the project.
D Risk is always detrimental to the project.

6 A typical risk management process would follow the steps:

A identification, analysis, response, closure.
B assessment, analysis, closure, response.
C assessment, planning, managing, response.
D identification, planning, response, closure.

7 Who would be typically described as the person or

organisation best placed to deal with a risk?
 A Risk manager.
B Sponsor.
C Project sponsor.
D Risk owner.

8 As part of the risk management process the capture of

threats and opportunities to the project objectives are
referred to as:
A risk assessment.
B risk avoidance.
C risk exposure.
D risk identification.

9 Which one of the following would be expected to form the

main part of a risk analysis?
A Deciding on the approach to project risk management.
B Evaluating the risk in terms of severity and relative
importance.
C Deciding on how to respond to the risk and who should
implement the response.
D Deciding if the risk is a threat or opportunity.

10 The implementation of risk management on a project requires

a cost allocation from the project budget. Which statement
describes the most representative return from such an
investment?
A A benefit to the project if potential opportunities are
realised.
B The cost of dealing with a risk should it occur is usually
greater than the cost of managing that risk.
C Risk management in the project facilitates team building.
 D It allows the organisation to assure stakeholders of
project compliance with regard to risk management.

11 Which of the following descriptions particularly identifies a

risk?
A An unplanned delay to the project.
B A current problem that will result in the project going over
budget.
C An uncertain event that if it occurs will have an effect on
one or more of the project objectives.
D A current problem that will result in the project being
delayed.

12 Which one of these categories would best represent project

issues?
A Uncertain events that may or may not occur.
B Opportunities that occur through change control.
C Problems that the project manager has to deal with on a
day-to-day basis.
D Threats to the project which cannot be resolved by the
project manager.

13 What is the likely decision to arise from the response stage

of the risk management process?
A Whether to proceed with the project or recommend
termination.
B Whether the process being used is robust enough for the
project being undertaken.
C Whether to proactively invest to bring the exposure to
risk within tolerable levels.
D Whether to use brainstorming or a workshop to decide
on the best response.
14 For successful risk identification to take place what must the
project team know as a minimum?
A Skills of the team delivering the project.
B Project objectives.
C Amount of time allowed for risk identification to take
place.
D Location of the venue where risk identification will take
place.

15 What defining character from those listed below particularly

typifies an issue?
A A major problem that was unexpected and now requires
the attention of the whole project team.
B A major problem that can only be addressed by the
project sponsor.
C A major problem that may happen in the future.
D A major problem that requires a formal process of
escalation.

16 Which one of the following is not an example of a project

issue?
A There are no suppliers that can meet our specification.
B We may not be able to finish on time.
C The project is going to be late.
D A key phase of the project is taking longer than
expected.

17 Throughout the life of the project, issues that are raised are
best recorded in the:
A quality register.
 B issue register.
C change register.
D risk register.

18 What must happen when an issue is likely to result in a

change of scope?
A The issue owner is consulted.
B A decision regarding the issue is deferred.
C The issue is rejected and the owner is informed.
D The issue needs to be progressed through change
control.

19 How should issues be prioritised?

A The time order in which the issues occurred.
B The impact on success criteria and benefits.
C The relative seniority of the issue owner.
D The relationship with a relevant risk.

20 A typical issue management process could follow the steps:

A identification, escalation, action, resolution.
B assessment, escalation, closure, resolution.
C assessment, planning, action, response.
D identification, planning, response, resolution.

NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS

SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /20

2.2.4 Quality management

1 How is ‘quality’ best defined?
 A The process of evaluating overall project performance on
a regular basis to provide confidence that the project will
satisfy the relevant quality standards.
B The fitness for purpose or the degree of conformance of
the outputs of a process or the process itself to
requirements.
C A discipline for ensuring the outputs, benefits and the
processes by which they are delivered meet stakeholder
requirements and are fit for purpose.
D The satisfaction of stakeholder needs measured by the
success criteria as identified and agreed at the start of
the project.

2 While carrying out quality management for the project, you

have been assigned the task of determining the quality
standards that are applicable and how they should apply.
Which part of quality management would best describe this
activity?
A Quality planning.
B Quality assurance.
C Total quality.
D Quality control.

3 To be considered effective, how should quality management

be used in the project?
A To ensure compliance.
B To ensure quality standards are met.
C To ensure the required process needs of stakeholders
are met.
D To ensure both the project outputs and the processes
meet the required needs of stakeholders.
4 During project deployment, which process will provide
confidence that the project will satisfy the relevant quality
standards?
A Quality assurance for the project.
B Strategic Business Planning for Quality (SBPQ).
C Total quality planning.
D Total quality management (TQM).

5 What is the most likely result of providing effective quality

management in the project?
A The project outputs will have been delivered.
B Conformance of the outputs and processes to
requirements will result in a product that is fit for
purpose.
C The project management plan will have been followed.
D Customer expectations will have been exceeded with
both outputs and processes.

6 You have been asked to review the project’s quality

management plan and in particular the elements of the plan
most relevant to quality control. Which one of the following
will be your primary focus for consideration?
A The development of a strategy for the management of
quality in the project.
B Supplying the client with evidence of control to ISO
9000:2000.
C A review of whether underlying processes and way of
working are leading towards product deliverables of the
right quality.
D The agreed methods of inspection, measurement and
testing to verify that the project outputs meet acceptance
criteria defined during quality planning.
7 What would be the most direct symptom of poor quality in the
project?
A The project not using compliant management processes.
B The customer refusing to take delivery of the finished
product.
C The failure of a quality assurance audit.
D The project finishing over budget.

8 The characteristics of a product that determine whether it

meets certain requirements is known as the:
A product criteria.
B acceptance criteria.
C quality criteria.
D success criteria.

9 The question: ‘Is the project actually following the processes

and procedures as set out in the quality plan?’ would be
answered by?
A Quality alignment.
B Quality control.
C Quality assurance.
D Quality improvement.

10 Which of the following provides the project manager with a

formal overview of project quality?
A Design reviews.
B Project definition reports.
C Quality audits.
D Historical experience.
11 When should test plans for quality control be agreed?
A During quality planning.
B When the live product is available for test.
C At the end of the project.
D Prior to handover of the output.

12 Inspection, measurement and testing to verify that the project

outputs meet acceptance criteria, is an example of quality:
A reporting.
B control.
C assurance.
D planning.

13 A review most closely linked to the phases of the project life

cycle could be described as a:
A gate review.
B learning review.
C handover review.
D audit review.

14 One benefit of a gate review process is:

A it allows learning from one phase of the project to be
passed on to the next phase.
B it stops projects that no longer meet the organisation’s
needs.
C it allows procurement to be planned into the project life
cycle.
D it allows the project team to plan delivery of the next
phase.
15 Which one of the following would best describe a post project
review?
A It is a personal appraisal for each team member on
completion of the project.
B It appraises the products of the project.
C It considers all aspects of the management of the
project.
D It involves only the project implementation team.

16 The post project review report should be:

A included in the project plan for the next similar project.
B restricted in circulation in case it contains critical
information.
C archived for use in a future audit of project management
processes.
D available to all project managers within the organisation.

17 Which of the following would be considered as a valid

objective for the post project review?
A Plan the next project for the project team.
B Make proposals for the operation of the project
deliverables.
C Improve future estimating accuracy.
D Plan how to complete the objectives of the project.

18 Which of the following would not be considered as part of the

post project review?
A Evaluation of the benefits of the project.
B Identification of the problems that arose and their likely
causes.
 C Review of the project’s performance against the success
criteria.
D Review of how the team worked together to solve
problems and issues.

19 What is the main objective of an audit?

A Provide assurance to the project sponsor that the project
is going to finish on time and within budget.
B Provide feedback to the project manager with regard to
their performance in managing the project.
C Provide assurance to the sponsor that the project is
being managed using the agreed governance and
process.
D Provide a report of the current status of the project
regarding cost and schedule performance.

20 When is it best to carry out a benefit review?

A At 6–12 months after handover.
B At various stages prior to handover.
C At the concept phase when developing the business
case.
D At various stages through deployment.

NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS

SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /20

2.2.5 Scope management

1 What aspect is important to clarify when conducting scope
definition?
A The number of products contained in the PBS.
B The boundaries and interfaces with adjacent projects.
 C Who is going to perform the work.
D When the work is going to be performed.

2 How are outputs best described?

A The changed circumstances or behaviour that results
from their use.
B The work packages developed in the WBS for the
project.
C The realisation of benefits at the end of the project.
D The tangible or intangible products typically delivered by
a project.

3 The combination of which two structures creates the

responsibility assignment matrix (RAM)?
A OBS and CBS.
B OBS and WBS.
C PBS and CBS.
D WBS and CBS.

4 Scope management in an iterative life cycle would ensure

that:
A the ‘must have’ requirements are given the top priority for
delivery.
B the scope is identified at a deeper level in the project.
C all stakeholders get what they want from the project.
D areas of the project that will be delivered are fully
agreed.

5 If using an iterative life cycle what actions might be necessary

for scope items that are not considered as ‘must have’?
 A They need to be given a special priority to ensure that
they are definitely delivered.
B They should have the best resources allocated to ensure
they are most efficiently delivered.
C The project could be extended if the delivery of these
requirements were proving more difficult than expected.
D They would be sacrificed if at any time the project was
predicted to go over budget or be late.

6 In a RACI coding format, what does ‘A’ stand for?

A Available.
B Authorised.
C Accountable.
D Acceptable.

7 What is the main objective of a RAM?

A To provide a clear and concise summary of tasks or
deliverables and the specific responsibilities defined.
B To provide an outline of the reporting structure to assist
in day-to-day management of the project.
C To provide an outline of the scope of the project and the
specific deliverables that have been agreed for the
project.
D To provide an outline of the specific costs of the project
and which key deliverables they are allocated to.

8 How is it determined whether a deliverable conforms to its

requirements and configuration information?
A A configuration management plan is produced.
B A configuration identification reference is allocated to the
deliverable.
C A configuration verification audit is performed.
 D A status accounting report is produced.

9 A key output of a well-controlled configuration management

process is:
A documented traceability between versions of each
configuration item.
B that the project is most likely to meet its success criteria.
C documented evidence of all project changes: proposed,
authorised, rejected or deferred.
D an agreed point after which no further changes to scope
will be considered.

10 Configuration management could best be described as:

A the process through which all requests to change the
approved baseline of a project is captured, evaluated
and then approved, rejected or deferred.
B the system that ensures that all changes to configuration
items are controlled and the interrelationships between
items are identified.
C the technical and administrative activities concerned with
the creation, maintenance, controlled change and quality
control of the scope of work.
D a report of the current status and history of all changes
to the configuration, together. with a complete record of
what has happened to the configuration to date.

11 Which of the following would be considered part of a

configuration management process?
A Initiating, identifying, assessing, planning, responding.
B Planning, identification, controlling, status accounting,
auditing.
C Scheduling, baselining, controlling, responding, closing.
 D Planning, auditing, monitoring, controlling, closing.

12 Configuration management would be used to:

A ensure the required materials are in stock when needed.
B help the impact of a change request to be fully
assessed.
C help configuration within IT projects.
D ensure that a work breakdown structure can be
completed.

13 Who is primarily responsible for configuration management in

the project?
A Project manager.
B Risk manager.
C Quality manager.
D The project team.

14 The prime purpose of configuration management is to:

A ensure the traceability and integrity of the delivered
product or products.
B minimise the impact of changes on the scope of the
project.
C ensure that the final product meets the needs of the
business as defined by key stakeholders.
D maximise the impact of agreed enhancements to the
project deliverables.

15 What is the key benefit of having configuration management

in the project?
A It allows a thorough assessment of the factors that are
most likely to affect the change.
 B It is a means to justify to the customer variances from
the original objectives.
C It ensures that the delivered product most closely meets
the needs of the customer.
D It manages the impact of change to the project scope.

16 What is the main reason for an initial high-level review of a

change request?
A To consider if the change is feasible to evaluate at this
stage.
B To establish who might be the best stakeholders to be
involved in the change.
C To ensure that the change request is considered as soon
as possible.
D To implement the necessary actions to ensure the
change has a smooth implementation.

17 What action is essential after a change has been approved?

A The highlights of the change are communicated directly
to the sponsor.
B The actual impact of the change is assessed.
C The next change requested should be reviewed as
quickly as possible.
D The related plans must be updated to reflect the change.

18 A formally constituted group of stakeholders responsible for

approving or rejecting changes to the project baselines, is
referred to as the:
A change management committee.
B change authority.
C change control board.
D change implementation group.
19 Which of the following would be considered most important
when carrying out a detailed evaluation of a change?
A Impact of change on baseline, risks and business case.
B The number of extra people required to deliver the
change.
C How the change will be reported when it is implemented
into the project.
D The configuration requirements of the change when
implemented into the project.

20 When no other changes are being considered to the project,

this is usually termed as a:
A scope verification.
B change freeze.
C consolidated baseline.
D configuration control.

NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS

SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /20

2.3 Achieving results

2.3.1 Estimating
1 What aspect of the project will have greatest influence on the
estimating method being used?
A The point in the life cycle where the estimate is being
carried out.
B The overall budgeted value of the project being
estimated.
 C Whether the project is likely to proceed or not.
D The amount of acceptable estimating tolerance that
exists.

2 What is the prime advantage of using a parametric estimating

method?
A Accuracy.
B Ability to deal with detailed information.
C Independence from historic data.
D Speed.

3 Which of the following statements about estimating is true?

A Post project reviews are a prime source of estimating
data.
B An estimated cost for a project must be within 10 per
cent to be of any use.
C If you cannot estimate task durations to within 20 per
cent there is no point in developing a schedule.
D The project manager should always add 10 per cent to
other people’s duration estimates to allow for natural
optimism.

4 The project you are working on has chosen to produce an

estimate using a detailed work breakdown structure (WBS).
What estimating method is this approach commonly known
as?
A Comparative estimating.
B Bottom-up/analytical estimating.
C Strategic estimating.
D Parametric estimating.
5 The concept that describes how estimating accuracy changes
through the project life cycle is termed:
A estimating risk.
B estimating funnel.
C normal values.
D parametric estimating.

6 What is the estimating method that uses data from a similar

project as the basis for the estimate?
A Evaluative estimating.
B Risk based estimating.
C Analogous estimating.
D Analytical estimating.

7 When the project progresses through the life cycle, which one
of the following aspects would be expected to occur?
A The accuracy of the estimate reduces and the level of
contingency requirement increases.
B The accuracy of the estimate increases and the level of
contingency requirement reduces.
C The accuracy and level of contingency requirement both
increase.
D The accuracy and level of contingency requirement both
reduce.

8 What is one of the main features of using analogous method

of estimating?
A The individual group members use a statistical
relationship between historic data and other variables to
calculate an estimate.
B The task of producing the estimates will be delegated to
those who are actually going to deliver the individual
 pieces of work or work packages.
C The individual group members, who are tasked with
providing the estimates, do this in isolation from each
other.
D The individual group members identify a previously
delivered project of the same size, complexity and
delivery method.

9 What is a likely benefit of re-estimating throughout the project

life cycle?
A The project will be much more economically viable.
B The business case is justified to a greater degree.
C Overall project duration is reduced.
D Reduction in contingency reserves are achieved.

10 What estimating method is most commonly used in the

definition phase of the project life cycle?
A Analogous.
B Analytical.
C Parametric.
D Statistical.

11 When in the project life cycle might analogous estimating be

most commonly used?
A Transition.
B Concept.
C Deployment.
D Definition.

12 What factor creates the effect of the estimating funnel?

A Project team getting to know each other better.
 B Utilisation of learning and experience.
C Project scope increasing in cost.
D Use of a linear life cycle.

NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS

SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /12

2.3.2 Resource scheduling and optimisation

1 The critical path on a project network is:
A the shortest path in duration through the network.
B the path with the most float.
C the path with the most activities on it.
D the longest path in duration through the network.

2 The critical path in the network diagram shown below is?

A A C E F.
B A B D F.
C A C D F.
D A B E F.

3 In the above network diagram, which of the activities have

total float:
 A C and E.
B B and D.
C A only.
D E only.

4 The diagram below shows the relationship between task A

and task B.

According to this diagram the dependency shown is an example

of:

A Finish to start.
B Finish to finish.
C Start to finish.
D Start to start.

5 Which of the following best describes the concept of total

float?
A The value of the earliest finish of an activity subtracted
from the latest finish of the previous activity.
B The value of the latest finish of an activity subtracted
from the earliest start of the same activity.
C The amount an activity can slip without affecting the
overall duration of the project.
D The amount an activity can slip without affecting the start
of the next activity.
6 In a situation where time becomes more important than cost,
the project manager should first attempt to:
A remove resources from critical tasks.
B perform time limited scheduling (smoothing).
C redefine the critical path.
D perform resource limited smoothing (levelling).

7 To maintain the scheduled duration when resources are

limited, resource levelling should first attempt to:
A not exceed pre-determined end date.
B schedule activities within the limits of their float.
C extend the activity duration.
D minimise the use of overtime.

The Gantt chart below should be used for answers to questions 8,

9 and 10. It shows the scheduling of seven tasks (A–G) and their
daily allocation of resources over a nine-day period. Activities B
and F have total float to the extent as indicated by the dotted line.
8 Which of the possible actions would be considered the best
application of resource smoothing?
A Double the amount of resources applied to activity B,
reducing its duration to 1 day.
B Delay activity F to start on day 5 and finish on day 7,
reducing to 1 resource per day.
C Extend the overall schedule duration by 3 days and start
the project on day 3.
D Double the amount of resources applied to activity E
reducing its duration to 1 day.

9 If the total number of resources available is limited to 6 per

day, what would be the most efficient way to deal with this
constraint?
A Increase the project budget to acquire additional
resources.
B Extend the overall project duration by 3 days.
C Move activity B and F to the extent of their float.
D Move activity F only to start on day 5.

10 If resource levelling was being considered to be applied to

the schedule, which activities should be initially considered for
this technique?
A All activities would be considered.
B Activities B and F would be initially considered.
C Activities A, C, D, E and G would be initially considered.
D There is not enough information provided to make such a
decision.

11 Procurement could be described as:

A an outline of the deliverables required by the project.
 B a process by which the resources required by the project
are acquired.
C an outline of the resources required for the project.
D a definition of who should be the best supplier of goods
to the project.

12 Preparation of contracts, selection and acquisition of

suppliers and management of the contracts would be items
recorded in the:
A Responsibility matrix.
B Work breakdown structure.
C Business case.
D Procurement strategy.

13 One key principle a project manager should follow when

carrying out procurement is to:
A ensure the same suppliers are used in each project to
maintain consistency.
B always use the supplier who will offer the lowest price.
C always bring in specialist help for support.
D always use an objective process when selecting
suppliers.

14 Which of the following would best describe a contract?

A An agreement made between two or more parties that
creates legally binding obligations between them.
B An invitation for a supplier to tender at the lowest price.
C A stage or work package carried out by a chosen
supplier.
D An accepted completed work package.
15 When acquiring goods or services for the project what might
be the most important question for the project manager to
raise with the sponsor with regard to the contract?
A How many suppliers from the market might be willing to
submit a tender response.
B If the previous supplier to the project can also be used
for the project currently being planned.
C How much risk to retain in the project and how much to
share with suppliers in the supply chain?
D How much previous experience does the organisation
have with the suppliers that are currently being
considered.

NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS

SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /15

2.3.3 Information management and reporting

1 The prime role of a project information management system
when reporting information is to:
A provide information to the sponsor as and when required.
B make decisions about control and coordination of the
project.
C report on all detailed aspects of the project.
D support the decision-making process.

2 Project reporting is for the benefit of:

A the project manager.
B the project sponsor.
C the project management team.
D the project support office.
3 The project manager will be expected to produce reports
containing which of the following information:
A progress against schedule, expenditure against budget
and performance against quality plan.
B feasibility of the project options currently being delivered.
C business case progress and the risks that will have an
impact on its achievement.
D how benefits are going to be realised once the project
has been delivered.

4 The main purpose of project reporting is to ensure that:

A the same information is sent to all stakeholders.
B the project uses the methods of communication required
by the sponsor.
C the project communicates to stakeholders in the most
effective way possible.
D the project complies with the organisation’s information
management policies.

5 Reports that are produced only when things are not going to
plan, are termed:
A risk reports.
B progress reports.
C exception reports.
D issue reports.

6 When in the project would it be most likely for archiving of

project documentation to take place?
A After a baseline plan has been created.
B During project closure.
C When the scope has been verified by the users.
 D After completion of each phase of the project.

7 Which of the following could be considered as the main

purpose of project progress reporting?
A To allow teams and stakeholders to determine if the
project is likely to deliver what is required.
B To allow stakeholders to judge the degree of project
management performance being applied.
C To ensure the provision of accurate and timely
information for teams and stakeholders to keep track of
deliverables.
D To assure stakeholders that the degree of compliance of
the project to standard operating practice is acceptable.

8 How might day-to-day information received from teams be

used in the project?
A To provide evidence to the sponsor that the project
should not be terminated.
B Sent to all stakeholders in the project.
C To support valuations of work performed and related
payments.
D To build a robust project archive.

9 How should the project manager avoid the ‘send to all’

syndrome?
A Only send information to those stakeholders who have
specifically asked for it.
B Avoid sending information to most stakeholders.
C Reduce the amount of information to a bare minimum.
D Ensure that there is sufficient interaction between
information management and communication planning.
10 What must the project manager consider most when planning
the destruction of information?
A That information should be destroyed but a master copy
must always be kept on file.
B That destruction occurs in line with legislative
compliance.
C There is no need to destroy information after a five-year
period.
D That information stored on digital media doesn’t need to
be destroyed.

NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS

SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /10

2.3.4 Leadership and teamwork

1 Which one of the following statements is true about work that
is delegated by the project manager to key team members?
A The project manager would no longer control the work.
B The work must be approved by senior line management.
C It does not reduce the project manager’s accountability
for that work.
D It can be carried out without recourse to other ongoing
project work.

2 In order to build an effective team, the project manager

should:
A organise ‘off-site’ team building events.
B focus on team selection techniques.
C ensure that the team are situated at the same site.
D clearly define roles and responsibilities.
3 Which one of the following characteristics would best
describe an effective team?
A A group of specialist individuals working on key tasks
within the project.
B A number of people working on both business-as-usual
activities and project work.
C A number of people working collaboratively towards the
same goal.
D A group of people working on a number of different
projects within the organisation.

4 Which one of the following aspects would be most important

for the project manager to consider in their approach to
building and maintaining a team?
A Let new team members find their own level within the
team.
B Provide focus by cutting links with departments during
the project.
C Ensure the effective induction of new members to the
team.
D Try to ensure that all team members have a similar
personality.

5 A leader who ensures that requirements are agreed and that

the rewards and penalties for achievement, or lack of it, are
understood, could be described as a:
A transformational leader.
B hierarchical leader.
C situational leader.
D transactional leader.
6 Which one of the following would best describe the most
effective leadership ability?
A The ability to provide inspiration and empowerment to
team members.
B The ability to have a thorough technical expertise of
aspects of the project.
C The ability to communicate clear objectives to team
members.
D The ability to be flexible and sensitive to each individual
team member’s needs.

7 What is the key purpose of leadership?

A Provide ongoing support and personal development to
individual team members.
B Develop the technical strategy to achieve business
objectives.
C Establish vision and direction, to influence and align
others towards a common purpose.
D Establish and maintain control over how the project team
performs tasks.

8 What aspect can cause a team to move from performing to

forming (i.e. backwards)?
A Change.
B Risk.
C Delegation.
D Monitoring and control.

9 According to Belbin, there are three aspects of personality

orientation to consider when developing a team, such as:
A theory X, theory Y and theory Z.
B motivated, experienced and skilful.
 C action, social and thinking.
D project, task and team.

10 How can a project manager best use models to assist team

development?
A To help them evaluate who should be rewarded most in
the next team review.
B To help them define the key technical skills that team
members need to perform.
C To help them decide who they don’t want in their team.
D To help them understand the social dynamics between
team members.

11 What single aspect can increase the effectiveness of a

leader?
A Knowing who to recruit into the team.
B Knowing when to alter their leadership style.
C Knowing when to stop trying to achieve objectives.
D Knowing how high to set the monthly team targets.

12 What might be the most appropriate leadership style in a

highly critical situation?
A Coaching.
B Directing.
C Delegating.
D Engaging.

NOW CHECK YOUR ANSWERS AT THE END OF THIS

SECTION. YOUR SCORE: /12
3.1.1 Short quizzes answers
Check your answers in each section. For any that are not correct,
read over that section again and ensure that you more fully
understand the subject area.

2.1 Introducing projects

2.1.1 Project environment

2.1.2 Project, programme and portfolio

management

2.1.3 Project roles

2.1.4 Business case

2.1.5 Project life cycles

2.1.6 Project management plan

2.2 Planning for success

2.2.1 Stakeholder engagement

2.2.2 Communication
2.2.3 Risk and issue management

2.2.4 Quality management

2.2.5 Scope management

2.3 Achieving results

2.3.1 Estimating
2.3.2 Resource scheduling and optimisation

2.3.3 Information management and reporting

2.3.4 Leadership and teamwork

Your results

There are 215 questions in total. Add up your marks for

each section. To pass the PFQ examination you will need
to get 60 per cent correct. For these example questions,
that would be 129 out of 215. If you have achieved a
greater score than 129, congratulations, you should
consider yourself to be exam ready.

Next, have a go at the exam practice paper in the following

section.

If you have gained less than 129, review each subject area.
It is likely that there are only one or two areas where you
 need to do a little more work to get you ready for the
exam.

Refer to the candidate guidance provided by the APM.

3.2 Examination practice

The questions outlined in this section will give you some insight into
the types and structure of questions that could be seen in the PFQ
exam. Your paper will have 60 questions which will be drawn from
any of the 10 learning outcomes and related subject areas contained
within this guide. Answer each of the questions and then check the
answers at the end of the section.

Use this exercise to practise prior to actually sitting the exam.

Specification for the APM Project

Fundamentals Qualification exam
1. Context
The APM Project Fundamentals Qualification will give candidates the
ideal start in the profession, providing them with a fundamental
awareness of project management principles and terminology.

2. Exam overview
The exam is based upon the learning outcomes and assessment
criteria specified in the APM Project Fundamentals Qualification
syllabus.
The APM Project Fundamentals Qualification exam:

■ is of one hour duration, which provides sufficient time to read all

questions;
■ contains 60 compulsory multiple-choice questions, each of an equal
level of demand.

3. Exam instructions to candidates

Instructions given to the candidates are included in the Guide for
Candidates which is available on the APM website: www.apm.org.uk.

4. Specification for an APM Project Fundamentals

Qualification exam (online/paper)
Compilation of an APM Project Fundamentals Qualification question
paper is validated to ensure that:

■ each question paper contains questions across the entire syllabus;

■ the questions forming each paper are drawn from the full range of
learning outcomes to reduce the chance of overlap between
individual questions;
■ the order of questions is randomised rather than following the order
within the syllabus;
■ all assessment criteria examined have equal priority;
■ no single assessment criterion is examined significantly more than
any other;
■ the frequency of the correct answer being A, B, C or D is not equal
in any one paper;
■ the order of A, B, C and D as correct answers does not follow a
pattern.
5. Allocation of marks
Within this paper:

■ each question is worth 1 mark;

■ the absence of an answer will score 0;
■ multiple answers to one questi4on will score 0.

6. Pass mark
The pass mark is 60 per cent* of the available marks, i.e. 36 correct
questions out of 60.

*This may be changed on the recommendation of the Senior

Examiner Team during the lifetime of the qualification.

7. Each question that appears on the question paper

■ Will take the average candidate no more than one minute to read
and answer.
■ Is appropriate for the target audience for the APM Project
Fundamentals Qualification.
■ Is unambiguous.
■ Stands alone and does not rely on an answer from another
question that appears in the exam paper.

8. Question and answer formats and wording

■ All possible answers within a single question will be about the same
length.
■ Similar grammar will be used for all possible answers within a
question.
■ Questions and answers will be written in the third person and will
be clear and concise.
■ Questions may include a diagram, on which the question is based,
e.g. an extract from a network diagram.
■ Questions will avoid repeated use of terms and phrases.

Section 3 – Sample paper

APM Project Fundamentals Qualification –

Examination paper
Sample Paper
Time allowed 1 hour.

Answer all 60 multiple choice questions

Provide only one answer per question.

Question 1
Which of the following is not a stage in an issue resolution
process?

a. Share the issue with stakeholders.

b. Track the issue to closure.
c. Escalate to the sponsor.
d. Apply change control.

Question 2
Which of the following are challenges for a project manager
developing and leading a project team?

1) Issues and incompatibility amongst team members.

2) Getting the right skills and attributes amongst team members.
3) Co-location of team members in the same geographic area.
4) Lack of accountability of team members.
a. 1, 2 & 3
b. 1, 2 & 4
c. 1, 3 & 4
d. 2, 3 & 4

Question 3
Which of the following is an activity in a typical change control
process?

a. Recommendation.
b. Justification.
c. Planning.
d. Continuous improvement.

Question 4
The purpose of quality assurance is to:

a. provide confidence the project will satisfy the relevant quality

standards.
b. determine a set of procedures and standards for project
management.
c. inspect, measure and test deliverables and processes.
d. define the scope and specifics of a project’s deliverables.

Question 5
A project manager might use a PESTLE analysis in order to:

a. mitigate all possible risks to the project.

b. identify and mitigate factors that may affect the project.
c. control technological change during the project.
d. consider team social roles in early stages of the project.

Question 6
Which of the following are phases in an iterative project life cycle?

1) Concept.
2) Feasibility.
3) Deployment.
4) Development.
a. 3 and 4 only.
b. 1, 2 and 3.
c. 1 and 2 only.
d. 2, 3 and 4.

Question 7
Which of the following is the responsibility of a project manager?

a. Ensuring a project is aligned to the organisation’s strategy.

b. Focusing on project benefits and aligning priorities.
c. Achieving the project’s success criteria.
d. Improving process, tools and techniques used in a project.

Question 8
To develop and establish a proper communication plan within a
project, the project manager needs to consider which type of
analysis?
a. Budget.
b. Stakeholder.
c. Resource.
d. Schedule.

Question 9
Which of the following is a responsibility of the project sponsor?

a. Creating a project cost breakdown structure.

b. Authoring the project management plan.
c. Creating a project work breakdown structure.
d. Owning the project business case.

Question 10
Portfolio management includes prioritising:

a. projects and/or programmes that contribute directly to the

organisation’s strategic objectives.
b. projects with exceptionally high returns on investment.
c. projects and programmes over business as usual.
d. projects which maximise change over those which maximise
investment.

Question 11
Which of the following actions would not help a team leader
influence the performance of their team?

a. Creating an exclusive environment.

b. Providing clear roles and responsibilities.
c. Promoting openness and honesty.
d. Developing a trusting relationship.
Question 12
One difference between a project and business as usual is:

a. projects achieve specified benefits but business as usual has

only vague benefits.
b. projects drive change whereas business as usual continues
existing activities.
c. projects have tightly controlled budgets whereas business as
usual does not.
d. projects have unclear deadlines but business as usual has
multiple milestones.

Question 13
The purpose of project progress reporting is to:

a. ensure a simpler critical path.

b. enable the tracking of project deliverables.
c. ensure stakeholder acceptance of project deliverables.
d. provide an increased total float.

Question 14
Which of the following is the purpose of an estimating funnel?

a. Keeping resource usage to a minimum to help reduce costs.

b. Supporting the production of comparative estimates.
c. Identifying where costs can be minimised when preparing a
budget.
d. Representing increasing levels of estimating accuracy
achieved through the life cycle.

Question 15
One advantage of virtual communications is:
a. that nonverbal signals can have an impact on discussions.
b. it’s easy to detect signs of conflict within the project team.
c. access to a wider resource pool for the project.
d. that the project team will always be co-located.

Question 16
Which technique could be used by a project manager when
resources are limited?

a. Resource aggregation.
b. Resource estimation.
c. Resource levelling.
d. Resource expansion.

Question 17
The main aim of quality management is to:

a. prepare a high-quality management plan.

b. ensure that deliverables meet appropriate standards.
c. validate the use of consistent standards.
d. determine whether to accept change requests.

Question 18
Which of the following is a purpose of issue management?

a. To stop issues occurring within the project.

b. To address and resolve the issues that occur.
c. To address and resolve uncertainty.
d. To reschedule activities to reduce costs.

Question 19
Product breakdown structures illustrate the required scope of
work by a hierarchical structure itemising the:

a. components of each product.

b. budget of each product.
c. benefits of each product.
d. risks of each product.

Question 20
The definition of benefits management includes which key
activities?

a. Planning, analysis and integration of project benefits.

b. Justification, validation and acceptance of project benefits.
c. Identification, tracking and realisation of project benefits.
d. Realisation, acceptance and integration of project benefits.

Question 21
Which of the following statements about scheduling is false?

a. Defines the sequence of activities.

b. Considers work calendars and time contingency.
c. Provides a baseline for safety considerations.
d. Quantifies the required resources.

Question 22
Which of the following defines the term ‘deployment baseline’?

a. The starting point for creating a resource histogram.

b. The basis for creating an organisational breakdown structure.
c. The starting point for the monitoring of project risks.
d. The basis for progress monitoring.
Question 23
Which of the following is an activity in a typical configuration
management process?

a. Evaluation.
b. Identification.
c. Registration.
d. Justification.

Question 24
Stakeholder analysis supports effective stakeholder engagement
by:

a. identifying stakeholders with high levels of power and interest.

b. ensuring stakeholder acceptance of project deliverables.
c. justifying the preferred project option to stakeholders.
d. providing information to all stakeholders.

Question 25
Which of the following is a project?

a. Introducing a new information technology system.

b. Operating a national rail network.
c. Organising ongoing catering in the armed forces.
d. Managing day-to-day security for senior politicians.

Question 26
One purpose of a typical project business case is to:

a. carry out earned value analysis.

b. allocate resources to the project.
c. analyse cost–benefit of the project.
d. plan project work packages.

Question 27
One disadvantage of physical communication is:

a. its significant environmental impact when compared to other

forms of communication.
b. that no audit trail is available for review at a later date by
project team members.
c. it is reliant on technology being available to all relevant
members of the project.
d. that your body language may not reflect what you’re saying
when passing on information.

Question 28
One of the benefits of developing communication plans in projects
is that this ensures:

a. the power and influence of stakeholders is understood.

b. that all communication is delivered face to face.
c. your message is understood.
d. clear reporting lines for the project.

Question 29
A project life cycle which combines approaches from the linear
and iterative life cycles is known as _________ project life cycle.

a. a hybrid.
b. an extended.
c. a reduced.
d. a combined.
Question 30
The purpose of project management is to:

a. organise management plans.

b. keep all stakeholders happy.
c. control change initiatives.
d. effect beneficial change.

Question 31
Which of the following statements refers to how scope is
managed in a linear project but not an iterative project?

a. Teams can act on new knowledge to change the scope.

b. Teams can re-prioritise requirements within the scope.
c. The scope of work is the starting point for the implementation
of change control.
d. Scope definition is assumed to be fixed for the whole project.

Question 32
One difference between an issue and a risk is an issue:

a. must be recorded but a risk does not.

b. is an uncertain event but a risk is not.
c. is a certain event but a risk is not.
d. always affects scope but a risk does not.

Question 33
Communication includes:

1) exchanging information.
2) managing stakeholders.
3) confirming there is a shared understanding.
4) building relationships within your team.
a. 2 and 3 only
b. 1 and 4 only
c. 1 and 3 only
d. 2 and 4 only

Question 34
A project manager requires a team member to focus on the
team’s objectives and draw out other team members. Which of
the Belbin’s team roles is most appropriate?

a. Shaper.
b. Monitor evaluator.
c. Specialist.
d. Co-ordinator.

Question 35
An extended project life cycle can be defined as:

a. an approach that adds operational and termination phases to a

linear life cycle.
b. an approach that adds adoption and benefits realisation
phases to a linear life cycle.
c. a framework for conducting a cost–benefit analysis once a
project has closed.
d. a framework for ensuring the re-deployment of assets post
project.

Question 36
One aspect of quality planning is to:
a. plan the audit of a project to provide assurance to the project
board.
b. provide confidence that a project will achieve its objectives in
the required time frame.
c. specify the acceptance criteria used to validate the outputs are
fit for purpose.
d. confirm routes for reporting to ensure effective communication.

Question 37
Which of the following is not a key element of project scope
management?

a. Define outputs.
b. Identify outputs.
c. Share outputs.
d. Control outputs.

Question 38
Which of the following is a difference between deployment
baselines in linear life cycles and iterative life cycles?

a. Linear project life cycles set the deployment baseline for the
whole project.
b. In an iterative project life cycle the scope and quality are fixed
in the deployment baseline.
c. Only deployment baselines in iterative life cycles have an
integrated baseline review.
d. Only deployment baselines in linear life cycles have an
integrated baseline review.

Question 39
Which of the following defines the term ‘risk’?
a. The potential of a situation or event to impact on the
achievement of specific objectives.
b. A problem that is now or is about to breach delegated
tolerances for work on a project or programme.
c. Scope creep within an uncontrolled project.
d. The use of estimation to determine costs, resources and
activities.

Question 40
Suppliers are stakeholders of a project management plan
because they:

a. contribute to the project’s procurement strategy.

b. help satisfy the project’s resource requirements.
c. provide acceptance certificates based on quality of resources
supplied.
d. determine the quality requirements of goods supplied.

Question 41
Which of the following defines the term ‘issue’?

a. A problem which is now or is about to breach delegated

tolerances for work on a project or programme.
b. A problem which occurs on a day-to-day basis which could
have an immediate impact on a project.
c. A problem which has the potential to impact on the
achievement of specific project objectives.
d. A problem which can only be resolved by a project manager
and within the project team.

Question 42
Which of the following define leadership?
1) Ability to establish vision and direction.
2) Developing team skills that enhance project performance.
3) Empowering and inspiring people to achieve success.
4) Ability to influence and align others towards a common
purpose.
a. 1, 2 & 4
b. 1, 2 & 3
c. 2, 3 & 4
d. 1, 3 & 4

Question 43
Which of the following are typical estimating methods?

1) Analytical.
2) Budgeting.
3) Analogous.
4) Parametric.
a. 1, 2 and 4
b. 1, 2 and 3
c. 1, 3 and 4
d. 2, 3 and 4

Question 44
Procurement strategy can be defined as the high-level approach
for securing:

a. stakeholder engagement.
b. funding for the project.
c. buy in from the project sponsor.
d. goods and services required for the project.

Question 45
Which of the following is not an output of a critical path analysis?

a. Total and free float.

b. Earliest start time and latest finish time of activities.
c. Project completion time.
d. Cost–benefit analysis.

Question 46
A project manager would use a cost breakdown structure to
produce:

a. the cost of a do-nothing option.

b. an analytical estimate.
c. high-level project costs.
d. a comparative estimate.

Question 47
Which of the following is the correct sequence for the stages of a
linear project life cycle?

a. Deployment, Concept, Definition, Transition.

b. Concept, Transition, Definition, Deployment.
c. Concept, Definition, Deployment, Transition.
d. Transition, Definition, Deployment, Concept.

Question 48
At which stage, in the Tuckman team development model, are
team members clear and comfortable with their roles and
responsibilities, and the project manager starts to see signs of the
team working together?

a. Storming.
b. Forming.
c. Norming.
d. Performing.

Question 49
Which of the following is a definition of project management?

a. A complex process of supervising and managing the delivery of

any time-bound deliverable.
b. Any change in management techniques in a company that
achieves strategic objectives.
c. The application of processes, methods, knowledge, skills and
experience to achieve specific objectives for change.
d. The coordination of several projects alongside business as
usual.

Question 50
Which of the following defines quality?

a. The fitness for purpose of outputs and processes.

b. The value for money of a product.
c. The satisfaction of the stakeholders.
d. The thoroughness of the management plan.

Question 51
Quality control verifies that:

a. the project follows appropriate processes.

b. project outputs are delivered on time.
c. the project follows appropriate governance.
d. project outputs meet acceptance criteria.

Question 52
The purpose of a decision gate is to decide whether:

a. the response to a risk is valid.

b. a project is viable in line with the business case.
c. the project delivered against the success criteria.
d. lessons were effectively learned during the project.

Question 53
Establishing success criteria is important at the start of the
project, as they:

a. indicate how the stakeholder needs will be met.

b. ensure adequate resource allocation.
c. indicate what is important in supplier selection.
d. ensure comprehensive risk analysis.

Question 54
One purpose of risk management is to:

a. adapt the plan to resolve problems.

b. minimise threats and maximise opportunities.
c. continually improve the project teams’ efficiency.
d. manage variations in a controlled way.

Question 55
Which of the following is an activity in a typical risk management
process?

a. Verification.
b. Request.
c. Closure.
d. Justification.
Question 56
When an item goes through change control, which of the following
must happen as part of a robust configuration management
process?

a. Costs associated with the change are evaluated and

documented.
b. Risks associated with the change are monitored to avoid
delays to the project.
c. The item is approved or declined in line with stakeholder
expectations.
d. Documents are updated to include any approved changes.

Question 57
The purpose of a risk register is to provide a:

a. structured process for risk identification.

b. record of the ownership of risk and issue management actions.
c. means of assessing the likelihood and impact of all of the
risks.
d. record of risks, their impact and the actions taken to manage
them.

Question 58
Which of the following is a part of change control?

a. Requests for change are realised.

b. Requests for change are mitigated.
c. Requests for change are evaluated.
d. Requests for change are resolved.

Question 59
The primary purpose of a milestone in a project is to show:

a. significant events.
b. resource constraints.
c. task dependencies.
d. critical path highlights.

Question 60
Which of the following can be adjusted during a time box?

1) Scope.
2) Resource.
3) Time.
4) Quality.
a. 1 and 2 only
b. 1 and 4 only
c. 3 and 4 only
d. 2 and 4 only

End of Questions

Sample Paper Answer Key

Glossary

This glossary is made up of terms that you will find in this study guide
and is consistent with definitions outlined in the seventh edition of the
APM Body of Knowledge.

Acceptance criteria The requirements and essential conditions that

have to be achieved before a deliverable is accepted.
Activity (1). A task, job, operation or process consuming time and
possibly other resources. (2). The smallest self-contained unit of
work in a project.
Adoption The optional additional phase in a linear life cycle that
facilitates the use of project outputs to enable the acceptance and
use of benefits.
Agile A family of development methodologies where requirements
and solutions are developed iteratively and incrementally throughout
the life cycle.
Analogous estimating An estimating technique based on the
comparison with, and factoring from, the cost of similar, previous
work. Also known as comparative estimating.
Analytical estimating An estimating technique that uses detailed
specifications to estimate time and cost for each product or activity.
Also known as bottom-up estimating.
Assurance The process of providing confidence to stakeholders that
projects, programmes and portfolios will achieve their objectives for
beneficial change.
Baseline The reference levels against which a project, programme or
portfolio is monitored and controlled.
Benefit A positive and measurable impact of change.
Benefits management The identification, definition, planning,
tracking and realisation of benefits.
Benefits realisation The practice of ensuring that benefits are
derived from outputs and outcomes.
Bottom-up estimating An estimating technique that uses detailed
specifications to estimate time and cost for each product or activity.
Also known as analytical estimating.
Breakdown structure A hierarchical structure by which project
elements are decomposed. Examples include: cost breakdown
structure (CBS), organisational breakdown structure (OBS), product
breakdown structure (PBS), and work breakdown structure (WBS).
Buffer A term used in critical chain for the centralised management
of schedule contingencies.
Business-as-usual An organisation’s normal day-to-day operations.
Also referred to as steady-state.
Business case Provides justification for undertaking a project,
programme or portfolio. It evaluates the benefit, cost and risk of
alternative options and provides a rationale for the preferred solution.
Change control The process through which all requests to change
the approved baseline of a project, programme or portfolio are
captured, evaluated and then approved, rejected or deferred.
Change freeze A point after which no further changes to scope will
be considered.
Change management The overarching approach taken in an
organisation to move from the current to a future desirable state
using a coordinated and structured approach in collaboration with
stakeholders.
Change register (or log) A record of all proposed changes to
scope.
Change request A request to obtain formal approval for changes to
the approved baseline.
Closure The formal end point of a project, programme or portfolio;
either because planned work has been completed or because it has
been terminated early.
Communication The process of exchanging information and
confirming there is shared understanding.
Communities of practice are a type of learning network used within
and between organisations to maintain, develop and share
knowledge.
Comparative estimating An estimating technique based on the
comparison with, and factoring from, the cost of similar, previous
work. Also known as analogous estimating.
Complexity Relates to the degree of interaction of all the elements
that make up a project, programme or portfolio and is dependent on
such factors as the level of uncertainty, interaction between
stakeholders and degree of innovation.
Concept The first phase in a linear life cycle that develops an initial
idea through initial studies and high-level requirements management,
and assessment of viability including an outline business case.
Configuration The functional and physical characteristics of a
product as defined in its specification and achieved through the
deployment of project management plans.
Configuration management Configuration management
encompasses the technical and administrative activities concerned
with the creation, maintenance, controlled change and quality control
of the scope of work.
Conflict resolution The process of identifying and addressing
differences that if left unmanaged would affect successful completion
of objectives.
Context A collective term for the societal and/or organisational
setting of a project, programme or portfolio. Also known as
environment.
Contingency Provision of additional time or money to deal with the
occurrence of risks should they occur. See also risk budget and
management reserve.
Contract An agreement made between two or more parties that
creates legally binding obligations between them. The contract sets
out those obligations and the actions that can be taken if they are not
met.
Control Tracking performance against agreed plans and taking the
corrective action required to meet defined objectives.
Cost planning and control The estimation of costs, the setting of an
agreed budget, and management of actual and forecast costs against
that budget.
Critical chain A resource-based approach to scheduling, useful when
time is critical and derived from the critical path, that protects critical
chains of activities with buffers.
Critical path A sequence of activities through a precedence network
from start to finish, the sum of whose durations determines the
overall duration.
Critical path analysis An activity-based scheduling technique that
determines the overall duration of the identified work based on
estimates and logical dependencies. The method of determining the
critical path.
Decision gate A point in the life cycle between phases that is used to
review and confirm viability of the work in line with the business case.
Alternatively called stage gates or gates.
Deliverable A tangible or intangible component of a project’s output.
Used interchangeably with product and output.
Deployment baseline The reference levels created as an output of
integrated planning and the development of the project management
plan.
Environment A collective term for the societal and/or organisational
setting of a project, programme or portfolio. Also known as context.
Escalation The process by which issues are drawn to the attention
of a higher level of management.
Estimate A forecast of the probable time or cost of completing work.
Estimating The use of a range of tools and techniques to produce
forecasts of the probable time or cost of completing work.
Event-driven Control actions or reports that are triggered by a
specific event.
Extended life cycle A life cycle approach that adds an adoption
phase to a linear or iterative life cycle with the purpose of ensuring
the accountability and governance of the investment stays with the
change teams until change is fully embedded. It provides the missing
connection to benefit realisation in a linear life cycle and facilitates
cooperation and knowledge sharing between change and business-
as-usual teams.
Facilitation An approach to working with groups in a collaborative
way to create energy and make it easy for the group to solve
problems.
Float A term used to describe the flexibility with which an activity may
be rescheduled. There are various types of float, such as total float
and free float.
Forecast A prediction of a defined future state, typically related to
the duration and out-turn cost of a project or programme.
Funding The means by which the money required to undertake a
project, programme or portfolio is secured and then made available
as required.
Gantt chart A graphical representation of activity against time.
Governance The framework of authority and accountability that
defines and controls the outputs, outcomes and benefits from
projects, programmes and portfolios. The mechanism whereby the
investing organisation exerts financial and technical control over the
deployment of the work and the realisation of value.
Governance board A body that provides sponsorship to a project,
programme or portfolio. The board will represent financial, provider
and user interests. Members of a governance board oversee
deployment and make decisions through the chosen life cycle.
Alternatively called steering committee, steering group, project board,
programme board, etc.
Handover The point, as part of the transition phase of a linear life
cycle, where deliverables are commissioned and handed over to the
permanent organisation to adopt.
Host organisation The organisation that provides the strategic
direction of the project, programme or portfolio and is the primary
investor and recipient of benefits. Used interchangeably with investing
organisation and client organisation.
Hybrid life cycle A pragmatic approach to achieving beneficial
change that combines a linear life cycle for some phases or activities
with an iterative life cycle for others.
Influencing The act of affecting the behaviours and actions of others.
Information management The collection, storage, curation,
dissemination, archiving and destruction of documents, images,
drawings and others sources of information.
Integrated planning The application of management processes that
bring together the planning of benefits, success criteria, scope,
quality, time, resources, cost, risk, communications, etc, to create the
project management plan.
Investment decision The decision made by the sponsor and
governance board that justifies the investment in a project,
programme or portfolio. Investment decisions rely on robust
investment appraisal.
Issue A problem that is now breaching, or is about to breach,
delegated tolerances for work on a project or programme. Issues
require support from the sponsor to agree a resolution.
Iterative life cycle A life cycle that repeats one or more of the
phases of a project or programme before proceeding to the next one
with the objective of managing uncertainty of scope by allowing
objectives to evolve as learning and discovery takes place.
Leadership The ability to establish vision and direction, to influence
and align others towards a common purpose, and to empower and
inspire people to achieve success.
Life cycle A framework comprising a set of distinct high-level stages
required to transform an idea of concept into reality in an orderly and
efficient manner. Life cycles offer a systematic and organised way to
undertake project-based work and can be viewed as the structure
underpinning deployment.
Linear life cycle A life cycle that aims to complete a project within a
single pass through a set of distinct phases that are completed
serially and span from the development of the initial concept to the
deployment of an ultimate output, outcome or benefits.
Management plan A plan that sets out how an aspect of a project,
programme or portfolio will be delivered, for example, a configuration
management plan. Individual management plans are component parts
of the overall project management plan (PMP) that is the output of
integrated planning.
Management reserve A sum of money that is part of overall cost
contingency to cover the cost impact of unidentified risks, and
potentially some already identified very low-probability, very high-
impact risks. See also risk budget and contingency.
Milestone A key event selected for its importance in the schedule
commonly associated with tangible acceptance of deliverables.
Network diagram A model of activities and their dependencies used
in scheduling. Also known as a Precedence network.
Objectives A generic term for pre-determined results towards which
effort is directed. Objectives may be defined in terms of outputs,
outcomes and/or benefits.
Opportunity A positive risk event that, if it occurs, will have an
upside/ beneficial effect on the achievement of one or more
objectives.
Optioneering An approach to exploring multiple options to optimally
satisfy stakeholders’ needs, requiring creativity and lateral thinking.
Organisational culture the unwritten rules that influence individual
and group behaviour and attitudes. Applicable at multiple levels of
organisation, including national culture or project culture.
Outcome The changed circumstances or behaviour that results from
the use of an output and leads to realisation of benefits.
Output The tangible or intangible product typically delivered by a
project. Used interchangeably with deliverable and product.
Parametric estimating An estimating technique that uses a statistical
relationship between historic data and other variables to calculate an
estimate.
Phase The major subdivision of a life cycle.
Portfolio A collection of projects and/or programmes used to
structure and manage investments at an organisational or functional
level to optimise strategic benefits or operational efficiency.
Portfolio management The selection, prioritisation and control of an
organisation’s projects and programmes in line with its strategic
objectives and capacity to deliver.
Precedence network A model of activities and their dependencies
used in scheduling. Also known as a network diagram.
Procurement strategy The high-level approach for securing the
goods and services required from external suppliers to satisfy
project, programme and portfolio needs.
Product A tangible or intangible component of a project’s output.
Used interchangeably with deliverable and output.
Product owner The owner of a product who may contribute to
decisions concerning the development of a product.
Product life cycle A life cycle approach that adds operation and
termination phases to a linear life cycle to reflect the whole life of an
asset. Enabling a full asset life cycle perspective encourages
engagement with long-term future implications of project-related
actions.
Programme A unique, transient strategic endeavour undertaken to
achieve beneficial change and incorporating a group of related
projects and business-as-usual (steady-state) activities.
Programme management The coordinated management of projects
and business-as- usual (steady-state) activities to achieve beneficial
change.
Project A unique, transient endeavour undertaken to bring about
change and to achieve planned objectives.
Project-based working A collective term for project, programme and
portfolio management. Used interchangeably with management of
projects.
Project management The application of processes, methods,
knowledge, skills and experience to achieve specific objectives for
change.
Project (programme or portfolio) management office (PMO) An
organisational structure that provides support for projects,
programmes and/or portfolios.
Project management plan (PMP) The output of process of
integrated planning for a project or programme.
Project professional The term used to describe those people in
roles associated with the management of projects, programmes or
portfolios.
Quality The fitness for purpose or the degree of conformance of the
outputs of a process or the process itself to requirements.
Quality control consists of inspection, measurement and testing to
verify that the project outputs meet acceptance criteria defined during
quality planning.
Quality planning takes the defined scope and specifies the
acceptance criteria used to validate that the outputs are fit for
purpose to the sponsor.
Reports (1). The presentation of information in an appropriate format
(e.g. management report). (2). A written record or summary, a
detailed account or statement, or a verbal account. (3). A term used
to refer to a role that is subordinate to another role in an organisation
structure.
Requirements the stakeholders’ wants and needs clearly defined
with acceptance criteria.
Resource allocation The process by which labour and non-labour
resources are attributed to activities.
Resource levelling An approach used during resource optimisation
that delays activities such that resource usage is kept below specified
limits. Also known as resource limited scheduling.
Resource management The acquisition and deployment of the
internal and external resources required to deliver the project,
programme or portfolio.
Resource optimisation A collective term used to describe the
methods for ensuring that labour and non-labour resources are
matched to the schedule. See also resource levelling and resource
smoothing.
Resource smoothing An approach used as part of resource
optimisation that involves utilising float, or increasing or decreasing
the resources required for specific activities, such that any peaks and
troughs of resource usage are smoothed out avoiding extension of
the duration where possible. Also known as time limited resource
scheduling.
Resources All the labour and non-labour items required to undertake
the scope of work to the required quality.
Responsibility assignment matrix A diagram or chart showing
assigned responsibilities for elements of work. It is created by
combining the work breakdown structure with the organisational
breakdown structure.
Risk The potential of a situation or event to impact on the
achievement of specific objectives.
Risk analysis An assessment and synthesis of estimating uncertainty
and/or specific risk events to gain an understanding of their individual
significance and/or their combined impact on objectives.
Risk analysis and management A process that allows individual risk
events and overall risk to be understood and managed proactively,
optimising success by minimising threats and maximising
opportunities.
Risk appetite How much risk investors are willing to tolerate in
achieving their objectives. Expressed as risk thresholds or tolerances.
Risk attitude The perception driven choice of a person or group
about an individual risk, or overall riskiness of a project, programme
or portfolio.
Risk budget A sum of money that is part of overall cost contingency
to cover the cost impact of identified risks. See also management
reserve and contingency.
Risk event An uncertain event or set of circumstances that would, if
it occurred, have an effect on the achievement of one or more
objectives.
Risk owner the individual or group best placed to assess and
manage a risk.
Risk register A document listing identified risk events and their
corresponding planned responses. Used interchangeably with risk log
or risk repository.
Risk response An action or set of actions to reduce the probability
or impact of a threat, or to increase the probability or impact of an
opportunity.
Schedule A timetable showing the forecast start and finish dates for
activities or events within a project, programme or portfolio.
Scope The totality of the outputs, outcomes and benefits and the
work required to produce them.
Scope management The process whereby outputs, outcomes and
benefits are identified, defined and controlled.
Social system The network of relationships between people (actors)
involved in the project, programme or portfolio and how the influences
between actors work as a whole.
Sponsor A critical role as part of the governance board of any
project, programme or portfolio. The sponsor is accountable for
ensuring that the work is governed effectively and delivers the
objectives that meet identified needs.
Stakeholder Individuals or groups who have an interest or role in the
project, programme or portfolio, or are impacted by it.
Stakeholder engagement The systematic identification, analysis,
planning and implementation of actions designed to influence
stakeholders.
Statement of work An annex to the main body of a contract that
defines the detail of deliverables, timescales and management
procedures relevant to the contract.
Strategic intent The term used to describe the aspirational plans,
overarching purpose or intended direction of travel needed to reach
an organisational vision.
Success criteria The satisfaction of stakeholder needs for the
deployment of a project. Note this is a different performance measure
to benefits which are focused on the strategic intent and delivering
beneficial change.
Sustainability An approach to business that balances the
environmental, social, economic and administrative aspects of
project-based working to meet the current needs of stakeholders
without compromising or overburdening future generations.
Team A group of people working in collaboration or by cooperation
towards a common goal.
Temporary organisation (team) A generic term used to describe a
specific project, programme or portfolio team brought together
specifically to implement project-based work. Used to contrast the
organisational structure for project-based work from the permanent
organisation.
Threat A negative risk event; a risk event that if it occurs will have a
downside/ detrimental effect on one or more objectives.
Time scheduling A collection of techniques used to develop and
present schedules that show when work will be performed.
Timebox A generic term used in iterative life cycle approaches to
refer to an iteration with a fixed end date that is not allowed to
change, thereby adjusting the scope and quality to deliver on time and
to cost.
Tolerance A level of delegated permission to vary performance from
specified parameters.
Transition The fourth phase in a linear cycle where results are
handed over, commissioned and accepted by the sponsor,
culminating in formal closure.
Triple constraint A way of describing the fundamental trade-off
between time, cost and quality in delivering the scope of a project.
Often also called the iron triangle.
Users The group of people who are intended to work with
deliverables to enable beneficial change to be realised.
Value A standard, principle or quality considered worthwhile or
desirable. In value management terms, value is defined as the ratio of
‘satisfaction of requirements’ over ‘use of resources’.
Virtual team A team where the people are separated by geography
and potentially time-zone.
Whole-life costs The fixed and variable capital and operational costs
required to develop, use and terminate a product or asset.
Workplace stress The adverse reaction that people have to
excessive pressure or other types of demand placed upon them.
References

Figure 2.1.5.2 The DSDM Agile Project Framework Handbook, 2014. Reproduced with the
kind permission of the Agile Business Consortium. https://www.agilebusiness.org

Figure 2.3.4.3 Belbin Associates for the Belbin ‘Team Roles’, as defined by Dr Meredith Belbin.
Reproduced by kind permission of www.belbin.com
Index

acceptance criteria, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
accountability, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
accuracy (estimation), here, here, here
adoption, here, here, here
agile development projects, here
change control, here
life cycles, here
time boxing, here
analogous estimating, here, here, here, here, here
analytical estimating, here, here
archiving of project documentation, here, here
assumptions, here, here, here, here
audits, here, here
background/situation, here–25
baseline plans, here, here
Belbin’s team roles, here, here, here
benefit reviews, here, here
benefits management, here, here, here, here
benefits (project), here, here, here, here, here, here, here
benefits realisation, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
business case, here
in project life cycles, here
reviews, here
bottom-up estimating, here
budget, here, here, here
business analysts, here
business-as-usual, here, here, here, here
difference between a project and, here
business case
benefits realisation and, here
contents, here, here, here
contributors, here
description, here
development and production, here, here
importance of, here
and project management, here
project management plan (PMP), here
purpose of, here, here, here, here
roles in development of, here–26
strengths, here
version control, here
business value, here

change
change control, here, here, here, here
change freeze, here
change requests, here, here
uncontrolled, here
checklists, here
closure of the project, here, here, here
coaching, here
common dependencies, here
communication, here, here, here, here, here
barriers, here
categories, here
consistent, here
definition, here
effective, here
face-to-face, here
improvement, here
interpretation, here
methods, here
physical (non-verbal), here, here
and stakeholder engagement, here, here
 successful, here, here
virtual, here
communication management, here
communication plan, here, here, here, here
aims, here
benefits, here, here
contents, here–43
comparative estimating. see analogous estimating
concept phase, here, here
configuration management, here, here
activities, here, here
benefits, here
outputs, here, here
use of, here
conflict, here
constraints, here
environmental, here
time, cost and quality, here
context of a project, here
continual improvement, here
continuity, here
contractors, here, here{{. see also suppliers}}
contracts, here, here, here, here
cost, here, here
allocation, here
budget, here, here, here
constraint, here
cost breakdown structure (CBS), here, here, here
status, here
critical path analysis, here, here
critical paths, here

day-to-day information, here

decision gates, here–55
definition phase, here, here, here
delegation of work, here
deliverables, here, here, here, here{{. see also outputs}}
evaluation, here
and milestones, here
and project progress reporting, here
responsibility for maintaining, here–62
deployment, here, here, here
deployment baseline, here, here
definition, here, here
in linear and iterative life cycles, here, here
destruction of information, here
documentation, here, here, here, here

economic factors, here

end dates, here
end users, here, here
environment, project, here–12
environmental analysis, here, here, here
environmental constraints, here
environmental factors, here
environmental groups, here
escalation, here, here
estimating funnel, here, here, here
estimating methods, here, here
evaluation. see reviews
examination practice, here
exception thresholds, here
extended life cycles, here, here, here

feedback, here, here, here

finish to start dependency, here
flash cards, here
float, here
functional demands, here
funding, here, here, here

Gantt chart, here, here, here

gate reviews, here, here
goals, here
Google, here
governance, here, here, here
governance board, here, here

handover, here, here

hybrid life cycles, here, here

information management, here, here–134

inspection, here, here
integrated planning, here
investment appraisal, here
issue management, here, here, here
issue resolution, here, here
issues, here, here, here, here
difference between risk and, here, here
iterative approaches, here
iterative life cycles, here, here, here, here
decision gates, here
deployment baseline, here, here
purpose of iterations in, here
scope management, here, here
key performance indicators (KPIs), here

leaders, here, here, here

leadership, here, here, here
definition, here, here
situational, here–84
and teamwork, here–137
learning outcomes, here–2
legal factors, here
life cycles, here, here, here, here, here
linear life cycles, here, here, here
decision gates, here
deployment baseline, here, here
 scope management, here
stages, here
logs
issue log/register, here
risk log/register, here

management baseline, here

mentoring, here
milestone charts, here
milestones, here, here
mind mapping, here

network diagram, here, here

objectives and key results (OKRs) framework, here

opportunities, here, here, here
options appraisal, here
organisation breakdown structure (OBS), here, here
outcomes, here
outputs, here, here, here, here
and acceptance criteria, here
critical path analysis, here

parametric estimating, here, here

performance, here, here
performance status, here
PESTLE analysis, here, here, here, here, here, here
phases
iterative life cycles, here–30
linear life cycles, here–29
planning, here–65{{. see also scheduling}}
political factors, here
portfolio management, here, here, here, here
definition, here
examples, here
portfolio manager, here
portfolios, here, here, here
post project reviews, here, here, here
power, here
precedence network, here, here
procurement, here, here
procurement strategy, here, here
product breakdown structure (PBS), here, here
product owners, here, here
productive teams, here
programme management, here, here, here
programme managers, here
programmes, here, here
progress monitoring, here{{. see also reviews}}
project board, here
project delivery environment, here
project documentation, here, here
project environment, here, here–92
project life cycles. see life cycles
project management, here, here
activities, here
business case development and, here
definition, here, here
purpose, here, here
project management office (PMO), here, here
activities, here
roles and responsibilities, here–23
project management plan (PMP), here, here, here–108
contents, here
stakeholders, here
project managers, here
balancing constraints, here
challenges when developing and leading a team, here, here
effective, here
influencing team performance, here–83
responsibilities, here
role, here, here, here
 and stakeholder environment, here
and team development, here–87
use of CBS, OBS and RAM, here
project networks, here, here
project progress reporting, here, here, here
project reviews, here
project roles, here–23
project scope, here, here, here, here
project team leader. see project managers
projects, here, here
characteristics, here
definition, here
description, here
differences between business-as-usual and, here–15
differences between programmes and, here
prompt lists, here
prototyping, here, here

quality, here–121
definition, here, here
standards, here
quality assurance, here, here
quality constraint, here
quality control, here, here, here
quality management, here, here, here
quality management plan, here, here, here

RACI coding, here, here

reporting, here, here, here–134
resource allocation, here
resource demand profile, here
resource levelling, here, here, here
resource limited scheduling. see resource levelling
resource optimisation, here–77
resource scheduling and optimisation, here, here–132
resource smoothing, here, here
resources, here
responsibility assignment matrix (RAM), here, here, here
results, here–88
reviews
benefit reviews, here, here, here
gate reviews, here, here
project reviews, here
risk assessment, here
risk events, here
risk exposure system, here
risk identification, here
risk log, here
risk management, here, here–117
activities, here
analysis, here
benefits, here
closure, here
identification, here–48
initiation, here
plan, here
purpose, here, here
response, here
risk registers, here
benefits of, here
purpose of, here
risk(s), here, here, here
appetite, here
definition, here, here
difference between issues and, here, here
roles, here, here–99

schedule management, here

schedule status, here
schedules, here
scheduling, here
purpose, here
 resource scheduling and optimisation, here, here–132
scope definition, here
scope management, here, here, here
definition, here
in iterative life cycles, here
within linear and iterative projects, here
scope verification, here
self-assessment
examination practice, here–158
test questions and answers, here–140
‘send to all’ syndrome, here
service-level agreements, here
sociological factors, here
sponsors, here, here, here
decision gates, here
managing expectations of, here
responsibilities of, here, here, here
stakeholder analysis, here, here, here
stakeholder engagement, here, here–110
stakeholder management, here

stakeholders, here, here, here, here

approving and rejecting changes, here
communication with, here–43
governance board, here
power–interest matrix, here
project management plan, here, here
stand-alone projects, here
statement of work, here
status accounting, here, here
steering group, here, here, here, here
strategic direction, here
strategy, here, here
engagement, here, here
management, here
procurement, here–78
study groups, here, here
study guide planner, here
subject matter experts, here
success, here
planning for, here–65
success criteria, here, here, here
success factors, here, here
suppliers, here, here, here, here, here
supply chain, here
sustainability, here, here
sustainability management plan (SMP), here

team development, here

adjourning stage, here
forming stage, here, here
norming stage, here
performing stage, here, here
storming stage, here
team leaders. see project managers
team members, here, here, here
team performance, here
team roles
action roles, here
personality orientation and, here
social roles, here
thinking roles, here
teams, here, here
building and maintaining, here
challenges when developing and leading, here–84
dispersed, here
effective, here
models to assist team development, here, here
teamwork, here
technological factors, here
test questions, here–137
threats, here, here, here
time, here
time boxing, here, here, here
time constraint, here
time limited scheduling. see resource smoothing
timeline, here
total float, here
Tuckman team development model, here, here

uncertainty, here, here, here, here

users, here, here
managing expectations of, here
roles and responsibilities, here

variance reporting, here

virtual communication, here, here, here
virtual working, here
vision, here

work breakdown structure (WBS), here, here, here, here

analytical estimating, here
project network, here
work packages, here, here, here